Childhood Innocence
by MissehKeehl
Summary: Arriving at Wammy's made you feel all alone in the world. When you met Matt and Mello, however, that all changed. You found friends and maybe something more. However, as time progresses, the innocence of childhood is lost and your life changes forever.
1. Act One: Arrival

Childhood Innocence: A MelloXReader Fanfiction

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**Hi there! This is one of my first fanfictions, so go easy on me ;_; The review button doesn't bite, though. Feel free to click it. Many times.**

**Anyway, now for annoying disclaimers: I do not own Death Note, its characters, ect. And I also do not own you. Enjoy!**

**PS. Since I couldn't put it in the summary, and if you don't see that title at the top (not that you're blind), this is a MelloxReader fanfic. So if you can't stand him, now is the time to turn back. Not that I'm saying you shouldn't read anyway. xD**

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Act One: Arrival

Wammy's House was just as you expected.

It was an orphanage, and orphanages don't really get any better than Wammy's. It was huge and it reminded you of an old abandoned castle with great stain-glass windows and peaking clock towers. There was a playground filled with toys and children at play, and inside its walls was the teaching facility for all the gifted children it contained, all being prepared so that someday one will be lucky enough to succeed L.

However, to you Wammy's House was just another orphanage you were being dumped in. Nothing special, just where you were going to spend your life since your parents are dead. The only difference was that for once you weren't the only overly smart freak in the place. To a sense, you blended in.

You sighed deeply at your sentencing, and decided not much could be done. An old man named Roger picked up your few possessions and took you to the playground to join the other children. "Welcome to Wammy's. Before you go in, I'm going to explain something. At Wammy's, nobody uses their real names, only aliases. So, what would you like to be called?"

You thought a moment, and then replied. "I would like to be called Harmony…" you said quietly. The old man smiled. "Ok then, you are now Harmony. I'm going to make the arrangements for your room. Meanwhile, why don't you try making some friends?" he said with a smile. You nod slightly, and he leaves with your things.

You find a spot near a corner and make yourself comfortable. You're _definitely _not in any mood to make "friends". Kneeling down, you bury your face in your knees, and then lift your head to the sky.

You inhale deeply to clear your mind—and you nearly choke on it. The air tastes and reeks of tobacco. "What the hell?" You turn your head around the corner to see a red-headed boy; his back is turned to you and he's crouched on the ground. He looks over his shoulder to spot you, and smiles awkwardly. "Hi there, you're new."

"No shit Sherlock…..Why are you smoking?"

"…Nice to meet you too."

"Can't you go somewhere else?"

"If I'm smoking illegally, do you really think I'll listen to you?"

"….Good point."

The mysterious red-head scoots over and sits next to you. "The name's Matt."

You seemed to have made a friend despite your efforts.


	2. Act Two: First Impressions

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**Hey again ^^ Mello, do the honors!**

**Mello: -_-**

**Me: _Now._**

**Mello: Yeah, yeah. She doesn't own Death Note, it's characters, ect. And she doesn't own you. **

**Me: Thank you! ^^**

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Act Two: First Impressions

Matt inhaled another puff of smoke before speaking. "So besides me, have you made an effort to talk to anyone?"

"Nope," you reply bluntly. Matt squashed his cigarette against the playground pavement.

"Look, I know it seems like the end of the world, but it isn't. So stop being so full of yourself and plaster on a smile to make some sort of human contact."

You glared daggers at the boy in the striped shirt. "I'll 'plaster on a smile' when you stop being a smartass. Who are you to think you know what's best?" "I just know," he replied vaguely.

You scanned the playground to get a glimpse of exactly what kind of kids live at Wammy's. Many of the kids just sat around reading and studying, but some children stood out. A boy entirely in white kneeled by the staircase building a wall of dice.

"Who's he?" You point out the boy seemingly in his own world.

"Him? That's Near, number one 'round here. Mello's second to him."

"Mello?" You furrowed your brow curiously, and searched the grounds for who this person may be.

A blonde wearing all black (which made you think of a bruised banana) walked up to and glared at Near. With a swift kick, the blonde knocked down the great fortress in a single blow. Near, unscathed from the event, resumed rebuilding his fallen creation. With a face filled with disgust, the blonde stormed off. _Humph, dude's got issues, _you thought to yourself.

Matt smiled at the direction you gazed. "You guessed right. That's Mello."

"_That's _Mello? The second best kid here?" you said in disbelief.

"Yep. I suggest you don't speak to him unless spoken to right now. As you can see, he's in a sour mood, which happens a lot, actually…..so….umm, maybe it's best you just keep away from him…in general." Matt said. He began drawing small circles in the ashes made from his squashed cigarette.

The bell rang, which signaled that recess was over and lunch was to begin. Matt got up and held out his hand with his signature grin. "C'mon. I'll show you around."

Hesitantly, you took his hand in yours and he pulled you up from your sitting position. He didn't let go, however, and began to swing both your arms without a care in the world. You squirmed around in his grasp, but it only made him grip tighter. You made an annoyed sound, but he ignored it, and led you inside the large building.

Wammy's may have looked huge just from the outside, but from the inside it was even bigger. There were countless dorm rooms lined both sides of the long hallways, and staircases on both ends of the hallways lead to higher and more elaborate floors, a total of 5 in Wammy's entire house. And this was the living quarters alone; it didn't include the building adjacent to Wammy's, connected by a larger hallway, which was used at the schooling part. You gazed in awe at the beautiful place.

Matt brought you to one of the many doors lined on the sides of the hallways and stopped. "…..and this is your room, which is actually just across from mine. I share it with Mello, too, but you have the place to yourself, which makes you lucky in my opinion. The bathrooms are halfway down the corridor to your right. Class starts at 8 a.m., Lunch and recess is from 11 to 12 noon, and classes resume at 12:15 and end at 4 p.m. Free time is from then on, and it's lights out at 10 p.m. Roger personally checks that all rooms are dark and asleep by then." Matt took a breath from the mouthful that he explained, and smiled. "You got that?"

You half-nodded and he sighed. "I'll make you a schedule since you don't remember…." Matt began to say, but he was cut off by your objection.

"No need. I quote: '…and this is your room, which is actually just across from mine. I share it with Mello, too, but you have the place to yourself, which makes you lucky in my opinion. The bathrooms are halfway down the corridor to your right. Class starts at 8 a.m., Lunch and recess is from 11 to 12 noon, and classes resume at 12:15 and end at 4 p.m. Free time is from then on, and it's lights out at 10 p.m. Roger personally checks that all rooms are dark and asleep by then', and then you wheezed and said 'you got that?' and I nodded," you replied quickly.

Matt stood there, dumbfounded, his jaw dropped. "You….T-that was exactly what I said! You remember all that?" he replied in awe. "Yes. I have what you may call a 'photographic memory'," you said in monotone.

Matt's eyes were gleaming with excitement through his goggles. "That's so cool! Tell me, what did I have for breakfast this morning?"

"I have photographic memory; I'm not a mind reader, Matt. Don't make it seem like I'm psychic, idiot," you snapped. Matt recoiled. "So-rry, you're so easily provoked. I bet you and Mello would get along just fine."

You rolled your eyes and turned to enter your new room. Just before you closed the door, you whispered quietly, "Peanut butter and Jelly sandwich, graham crackers and milk," you said with a satisfied smirk, and closed the door.

Matt chuckled. "And you said you weren't a psychic…Liar."

You laughed from behind the door. "No, Matt, I'm still not psychic. You're wearing your breakfast all over your face." Matt blushed in embarrassment.

"Psh…Whatever. At least my video games won't judge my eating habits", he said, pulling out his Gameboy while wiping furiously at his mouth. "Anyway, Lunch is in 5 minutes, so hurry up and I'll see you in the lunchroom."


	3. Act Three: Mello

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**Me: *cries***

**Matt: ZOMG WHY ARE YOU CRYING?!**

**Me: B-Because if I say the disclaimer no one will believe me...**

**Matt: ONOES DON'T WORRY I'LL-**

**Mello: DON'T FALL FOR IT, MAN, SHE'S JUST LAZY!**

**Me: One of you better say it or I'll kill off the reader in the next chapter. And no one will like that :O**

**Mello & Matt: SHE OWNS NOTHING!  
**

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Act Three: Mello

"OVER HERE!" Matt yelled from across the lunchroom. You could feel the stares of every kid in the lunchroom drilling into you as you walked over.

"Do you have to be so friggin' loud?" you asked as you slammed your lunch tray down angrily on the table. You sat across from Matt at his almost empty table.

Matt smirked. "Well, if I had whispered, there wouldn't have been the same reaction, would there? You probably would've avoided me, and I don't take too well to being ignored."

You rolled your eyes, and then stared at your lunch tray, unwilling to eat. It wasn't the food that was the problem; it was just that you weren't in the mood to eat.

"Hey," Matt said. You looked up.

"OH MY GOD A DUCK!" This made you gasp and twist backwards, but Matt shoved a handful of tater tots in your mouth before you turned.

"Gotcha," he said with a smirk. "As long as I'm here, you're eating something."

"Matt youff Ifiot!" you yelled incoherently with a mouthful of food.

"Matt, it's not nice to stuff things into other people's mouths you know."

Your head shot up to the direction of the voice, and you saw the blonde named Mello sit down across the table from you next to Matt.

"Eww, Mel, you make that sound so perverted," Matt said with a grin.

"That's 'cuz it is. It may as well define you as a future rapist/pedophile. One day it's tater tots, the next it's your di-"

"AHEM, Mello, we have a guest," Matt interrupted.

"Yeah….I know," Mello said, his eyes traveling slowly to you. You gulped as he stared at you, his icy-blue eyes feeling as though they were looking right through you to your very soul.

"Well, Matt," he said, never taking his glare off you, "Mind telling me who she is?"

Matt, who began to play his games, snapped back to reality. "O-oh, right. Her name is…is….uh, actually, she never gave me her name…" he said bashfully.

"You became buddy-buddy with this girl and you didn't even ask her name? Idiot," Mello scolded. He turned his attention back to you. "So…name?"

You shivered at the intensity of his glare, and found yourself clutching your knees, which were pressed tightly together, and staring at your tray of food. "C-call me….Harmony…" you managed to sputter.

Mello smirked. "Harmony, huh? Nice name." He took a bar of chocolate out of his pocket and viciously broke off a piece.

"In case you haven't already learned, I'm Mello," he said, a piece of chocolate hanging from his mouth, surprisingly not impairing his speech.

"He likes the color black, chocolate, and long walks on the beach," Matt said jokingly, with which Mello gave him a smack on the back of the head.

Mello shifted in his seat, leaning forward on the table and propping up his elbow, his head held up with his palm. He watched you take small bites out of your food, to the point you became so intimidated that you stopped.

"And you said _I _was creepy. Meanwhile you think its ok to stare at people while they eat," Matt mumbled, his eyes glued to the screen of his game while his fingers pressed furiously at the buttons.

You looked up hesitantly, and unsurprisingly, Mello's stare continued to be glued to you. You made a face of discomfort, and he only smirked. "What's the matter….embarrassed?" he said devilishly. He leaned in closer and closer, until you felt his breath on your face. "How…about….now~?" he cooed.

To his surprise, you smirked back at him. He tilted his head in confusion, and then you made your move.

"SEXUAL ASSAULT! SEXUAL ASSAULT!" you cried out in the middle of the lunch room, with your arms flailing.

Mello fell backwards. "Wha-WHAT?!"

Roger rushed to the table (he happened to be in the lunchroom).

"Mello! How many times must I tell you it's not polite to sexually assault new incomers?!?" Roger grabbed Mello by the shirt and tugged him to his office for his punishment, a roar of laughter ringing throughout the lunchroom.

"You do realize you have 2 hours to live, right?" Matt said.

You giggled. "Yeah, I know. What's weird to me is that Roger said 'how many times must I tell you', so does that mean it's happened before?"

Matt smiled. "No, you're just not the first person to do that. This is actually how me and Mello first met and became good friends. Good times, good times…." he said, wandering off into his memories. "I mean, yeah, I got my shoulder dislocated, but still, good times….."

You laughed. "Well, Matt, I guess great minds think alike."


	4. Act Four: First Day of Class

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**Matt: *wears blonde wig and leather pants***

**Mello: o.o**

**Me: WTF are you wearing, Matt?**

**Matt: It's called _cosplay, _and you should know, you goddamn Otaku-girl.**

**Me: Yeah, I know, but why _Mello _cosplay?**

**Matt: To do this! *scowls* _Ughhh I hate you all, but Misseh owns nothing. Urg disclaimers suck!_**

**Me: ^^ **

**Mello: -_- Matt, you're retarded.**

**Matt: If I didn't do it, the real you wouldn't!**

**Me: ...Anyway, enough of boring author notes. Enjoy!  
**

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Act Four: First Day of Class

Mello was kept for his punishment until lights out, leaving you to escape with your life…for now.

The next morning you woke to the sound of rough banging on your door. You turned over lazily in your bed. "Who is it? What time is it?" you yelled groggily.

"Open the door," the voice said. Curiously, you quickly put on something decent and opened the door to find a familiar face standing there.

Let's just say Mello was _not _amused.

"H-hey Mello…" you stuttered nervously. A menacing aura radiated off of him. He smiled and had a look as though he were possessed.

"Why good morning Harmony. Did you get a good laugh from yesterday's stunt? _'Cuz it's the last thing you're gonna remember before I murder you!"_

Mello lashed out at you, but you slammed the door in his face. "Open up!" he yelled. "No! If anything I'll try to _prevent _my own death, thank you very much!" You locked the door and turned your attention to your alarm clock, which read 7:50. _Crap! Ten minutes to class!_ You thought frantically, and rummaged through your clothes to find something to throw on. After you dressed, you threw on your book bag and unlocked the door.

It flew open, and sent Mello crashing into the floor and landing with a loud _thud._

"Good morning to you, too. Now, unless you want to be late, I suggest getting your ass up and going to class," you said after practically stepping on him and rushing into the hallways.

"Tch…damn girl…" he muttered as he watched you run off.

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You practically ran into the classroom, attracting a lot of stares. "G-good morning…" you stuttered quietly and gathered your composure. The teacher greeted you and pointed out your seat. Matt sat across from you, two seats over, and you noticed Near, a ball of white in the colorful classroom, sat at the head of your row.

Mello arrived 5 minutes later, walking in as though he had all the time in the world to spare. "Late as usual, young Mello," the teacher said with disapproval. "It's a wonder you stay second."

Mello jutted his jaw forward, a sign of anger. "Yeah…whatever." He walked over slowly, and took the seat behind you. "Well, well, look who it is," he whispered in your ear, leaning across his desk. You shivered. "Don't bug me, Mello," you hushed.

Classes seemed to last for all eternity. You had no need to write notes because of your photographic memory, and so most of your time was spent observing your fellow classmates.

Near was always participating in class, but never took any pleasure in answers he got correct, which was all of them. Like you, he rarely took notes, and mostly would secretly play with tarot cards and small action figures hidden in his desk. He twirled his white hair out of a subconscious habit, and seemed to constantly wear an emotionless mask, making you question if so much information was stored in his head that his brain had forgotten how to feel.

Matt was a classic lazy student and class clown. He always played his games during the beginning of class until the teacher would yell at him. Even then he would say 'In a minute, just one more level', and would tell the teacher 'You may teach now, teach' when he was done, earning some laughs from the class. It may get him in trouble sometimes, but Matt made class more lively. Even you questioned his placement as third in the house, wondering just exactly how he does it.

Mello was an entirely different story on his own. He would work nonstop, writing notes furiously on every single detail. Much of his time was devoted to studying, and he would always earn the best of scores. However, Near would always do just a little bit better, even if it was just by a point. To Mello, no matter how good he was, he was nothing unless he beat Near, his true rival. If he learned to relax for once, you wondered if maybe he wouldn't be so angry and bitter all the time.

The ringing of the lunch bell woke you up from your daydreaming, and you filed out with the rest of the class. While walking in the hallway towards your room to drop off your books, you felt a tap on your shoulder.

You sighed. "Mello, I told you not to bug me. It was just a joke, get over it."

"Who said I was Mello?"

You flipped around, seeing a group of girls with demonic expressions on their faces.

"You know, we heard because of your photographic memory shit you were able to go from 405th to 18th in the rankings in just one week. Pretty amazing for a newbie," said the leader of the group. You recognized them as some of the low-ranking kids at Wammy's, probably somewhere in the three-hundreds.

The group stepped closer to you, to the point they encircled you, your back against the wall. "But you know, we don't appreciate some newbie surpassing us so quickly without even really _doing _anything," she smirked. "So we're gonna teach you a lesson so maybe you'll learn your place, _got it?"_

One of the other girls in the group grabbed your shoulders tightly, pressing them against the wall. The leader and the other of her followers took turns punching you in the stomach, sometimes scratching at your face. After 15 minutes of torture, they pushed you hard against the wall one last time, and then released their grip. You doubled over in pain, grasping your stomach and sliding down the wall to the floor.

The leader of the group smiled. "Remember today, newbie, so you'll learn from it." They walked down the hallway, laughing amongst them while you sat in a fetal position.

You began to cough up blood, and then the next thing you knew, you blacked out.

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You woke up in the hospital area, a nurse writing something in your chart. You opened your eyes halfway, and she smiled. "Nice to see you've woken up. How are you feeling?" You closed your eyes again, exhausted. "In pain…tired….," you replied sleepily. You slowly lifted up the covers and looked under your gown to see an array of purplish-black bruises decorating your stomach and abdomen.

"As you can see, you have a lot of bruises. What exactly happened? How did you get hurt?" You put down the covers and shook your head. "Nothing….just….had a lot of stuff fall on me while opening my cluttered closet. Passed out, I think….," you lied. Being a tattletale would only get you more beat downs.

"Well…I suppose. Be more careful next time," said the nurse as she put down your chart and started walking away.

"Ah…wait, who brought me in?" you asked before she left the room.

"Oh, a young boy did. He's sitting over there," the nurse pointed out.

You turned your head, expecting to see Matt or maybe even Mello, but instead you saw a familiar albino, sitting with one knee held to his chest on the floor beside your bed, rolling around a car.

You rolled over on the bed to lie on your side, and spoke. "Near, what are you doing here?"

Near's eyes remained glued to his car. "Well, it's not like I'm going to just walk by when I see someone passed out on the floor," he said bluntly.

You rolled back over onto your back and stared at the ceiling. "I guess so, but why go through all of the trouble carrying me here, and then _staying _until I woke up? I think that's what I'm trying to say."

Near crawled over to your bed, using the folds and creases of the covers as road bumps for his car. "I stayed to explain to you why you got beaten up."

You turned your head towards him curiously. "What, did you send them to teach me a lesson? You the leader of some sort of Albino Mafia?" you said sarcastically.

He shook his head. "No. I'm just here because I understand what you're going through. The same thing happened when I became first. It seems the children here have a problem with accepting drastic change." He moved his car over two creases. "But they need to know that it's not always our choice to have something changed, and we can dictate how fast or slow change will occur. Even so, I believe changes aren't categorized universally to everyone as "drastic" or "small"; it's all dependant on the specific person's reaction."

You were amazed at how knowledgeable such a small person such as he could be. He looked up at you. "And another thing; don't let today's events be a misinterpretation of how everything is at Wammy's. It's only your first day, after all."

You nodded. "Yeah, I know that. You and Matt are some examples of the goodness here," you said with a smile.

Near's eyes flickered with something anyone who didn't know him could mistake for emotion, but you scoffed at the thought.

"Well," he said while getting up. "I hope you feel better. See you in class tomorrow."

Just before he left the room, he turned back slightly, and you smiled. "Thank you, Near."

He nodded, and he left you to your thoughts. You were beginning to think perhaps Near was human after all.


	5. Act Five: Friends

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**Near: -_-**

**Me: What's wrong, Near?**

**Near: What did you mean by "You were beginning to think that maybe Near was human"?**

**Me: *sweatdrops* O-Oh, you mean the last chapter? Well, it's just that you're always so robotic...**

**Matt: I SEE A BATTERY PACK UNDERNEATH ALL THOSE BAGGY CLOTHES!!!**

**Mello: _Shut up, _you idiot! Now she's going to make us do the-**

**Me: HEY, I've been looking for you two! Do the disclaimer, NOW!**

**Mello and Matt: *sighs* Misseh doesn't own Death Note or its characters and so on....**

**Near: ....beep boop......  
**

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Act Five: Friends

You fell asleep soon after Near had left, waking up around midnight, when darkness still shrouded the hospital. You looked around the seemingly haunted hospital, and longed to be in your room again. Quietly, you slipped into your slippers and headed out of the hospital.

As you left your hospital room, you found yourself in a part of Wammy's you did not recognize.

It was most likely the South end, the only part of the orphanage you had not yet explored. You aimlessly wandered the hallways without a destination, hoping that perhaps somehow you would end up back in the Northern Wing, where your dorm was.

While you wandered, you heard a _crash_ of pots and pans. While traveling towards the sound, you found yourself inside the Wammy's kitchen.

Walking around the large counter in the middle of the kitchen, you saw what looked like a young girl crouching on her knees, frantically picking up the fallen pots.

"Shit….shit…shit if someone heard that…," she mumbled. _Foulmouthed girl, _you thought.

You tiptoed around the counter to the other side, and saw that the girl was in fact Mello.

You quietly knelt down next to Mello as he continued to nervously put away the pots, oblivious to your presence.

"Out for a midnight snack?"

"GAHH!" Mello shrieked, falling backwards, his hands in the karate-chop position in front of him.

He stared at you wide-eyed. "Damn it, Harmony, why the hell you have to sneak up on me like that?!?" he said in a hoarse whisper. He got back on his knees, glaring at you. "And yeah, I'm looking for some chocolate. Now are you going to help me or are you gonna sit around and be useless?"

You sighed, and then crawled your way to the refrigerator.

"Tch, don't you think that would've been the first place I looked?" Mello scoffed.

You glared at him. "Well, if you would give me a minute, I'll show you why I'm looking again." You opened the top part of the refrigerator, the freezer. Sticking your hand in, you moved around until you felt over the top of the ice box.

Mello narrowed his eyes. "That's just the ice box. There's nothing in the-"

You stopped Mello from talking as you held out in front of you three chocolate bars.

"It's cold, but still, it's chocolate. Roger put them at the bottom of the ice box to keep them from melting."

Mello smirked. "Yeah, yeah, don't look so smug. I would've found them eventually."

He sat down now, his back against the counter. You sat in the same position on the opposite side of him, your back against the wall. _Back against the wall..._ You shuddered at the memory.

Mello kicked your foot to get your attention. "So, besides stalking me, why exactly are you here, and in a hospital gown?" he asked.

You grimaced. "I wasn't stalking you; I heard the racket you were making and got curious. And the gown….." you paused. "Long story."

He kicked you again. "Tell me."

"No."

"_Tell _me."

"_No."_

"_Tell me!"_

"_No!"_

"_TE-_"

"You're annoying!"

He smirked, and then got up. "Wait here," he said, and sprinted off.

When Mello came back, he had a handful of clothes with him.

"They're mine, but they should fit you." He tossed them onto your lap.

You narrowed your eyes. "Who are you and what have you done with Mello?"

"That's no way to say thank you."

"Does that chocolate of yours have some kind of personality-altering effect on you?"

"Just shut up and accept the nice deed. You don't have to _always_ speculate every little thing."

You shrugged, and got up, walking behind the counter. "Turn around to the wall while I change, pervert," you snapped.

"Why? It's not like there's anything you got worth seeing-"

"Just turn around asshole!"

He groaned, but obeyed and turned away. You took off the hospital gown and put on a pair of boxers (you prayed that they were washed and unused, but thank goodness you kept on your undergarments) and an Mello's oversized T-shirt. His clothes smelled nice, like clean sheets almost, and a hint of chocolate, of course.

"I'm done," you announced, and he turned back to you, arms folded. "Ok, now tell me why you were in a gown in the first place."

You rolled your eyes, annoyed. "Why so curious about what I'm wearing? You plan on taking hints from my fashion sense?"

"You have no sense, let alone that in fashion," he said. "I just want to know since when is "hospital chic" your sort of style?"

You narrowed your eyes, and then looked at the floor. "Well, use common sense. What are hospitals for? They're for making people better…when they get hurt."

You felt Mello eyeing you, but you kept your eyes to the floor. You sat on the floor again, and he scooted over to you.

"Who hurt you?" he said seriously.

You shook your head, sending strands of your hair flying freely. "It was just some of the low rankers, saying I should 'learn my place' or whatever… doesn't matter anyway."

"Where?" he said through gritted teeth.

"Mostly they just punched me in the gut..."

You felt a tug on your shirt, and backed up in surprise.

"S-sorry…May I?"

You nodded hesitantly, and he gently lifted up your shirt to see your abdomen. His eyes widened as he saw the bruises, now deeper in color and tenderer to the touch, you noticed. He seemed to wince in pain just by looking at them.

"Harmony…" he whispered, his voice filled with sadness.

You quickly pulled down on your shirt. "Well, you know, it's nothing to cry over. Wounds heal," you added quickly.

Mello's face turned cross with dissatisfaction. "Pfft, don't act like you don't give a shit that they hurt you. You know you do. Where was I when this happened, anyway?!" he said angrily.

You smirked. "Well, seems like even though I don't care, _you _sure do."

Mello turned away. "Well, of course I do. If you're Matt's friend, and Matt's my friend, that that makes you my friend, too. Like you said, 'use common sense.'"

You laughed. "Mello, are you always searching for excuses? Just say it's because we're friends, not through Matt. You'll have to admit it sometime."

"…..Acquaintances."

"Good enough for me."


	6. Act Six: Prediction

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**Me: *waves reader over***

**Reader: Um...how did I get here?**

**Mello: WTF Leave Harmony out of this!**

**Matt: Mello and Harmony sitting in a-**

**Me: MATT STFU you're embarrasing the reader!**

**Reader: -_- U-Uh, lemme guess, you want me to do the disclaimer?**

**Me: *cough* Um...yes please?**

**Reader: *sigh* Misseh doesn't own Death Note, its characters, and so on.  
**

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Act Six: Prediction

You and Mello stayed in the kitchen in silence. He eventually shared some of his chocolate with you, key word being _some._

After fifteen minutes, Mello gave a dramatic yawn. "You know, I'm beat, so I think it's time to get back." He got up and held out his hand to you. "Coming? Or do you plan on sleeping in the kitchen tonight?"

You looked down shyly. "Will you lead the way? I can't find my way back from here."

He smirked. "Stupid. I wouldn't be much of a gentleman if I left a hurt girl by herself in the dark, would I?"

"Well, you know, if you look like a lady, it doesn't really matter _how _gentlemanly you act…" Mello shoved you, and you laughed.

Mello found his way surprisingly quickly to the dorms, and you parted ways with a solemn goodnight.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mello entered his room to find Matt passed out on the floor surrounded by empty potato chip bags, controller in hand. The T.V. screen flickered with the words 'Game Over' and the game's theme music played softly. Mello shut off the T.V. and nudged Matt by pressing his foot against his ribs.

"Matt, get up. Look at the mess you left."

Matt turned over lazily. "Nn….Hey, weren't you in here a while ago?"

Mello walked up to his bed, yanking up the covers that were tucked in. "Yes, Matt, in case you haven't noticed, I live here."

Matt pulled himself up to a sitting position. "Nah, I mean you went out to get chocolate, came back, and then left again with some clothes. And now you're back again."

Mello clapped sarcastically. "_Very good, _I see that playing all those mindless video games hasn't yet rotted your memory, at least the short term memory." Mello crawled into his bed, pulling up the covers over his head.

"You're more sarcastic than usual. Something's up. Tell me, why'd you go back with the clothes?" Matt asked curiously.

Mello groaned. "You're annoying…." he paused. "…Harmony wandered into the kitchen in a hospital gown. I lent her some of my clothes," he said, his voice muffled from his face being buried under the covers.

Matt crawled over to the side of Mello's bed, and yanked the covers off of Mello's head. "Harmony was in a hospital gown? Why? Was she hurt? How? Most importantly, _you lent her your clothes?_ You don't even let _me _borrow your clothes when I run out, which is why I don't bathe or change my clothes that often now!" Matt rambled off.

Mello gripped the edge of the covers again and yanked them over his head. "One: Matt, you're gross. Two: Too many questions. Three: I'm tired, so goodnight, and that's the end of it."

"But-"

"_And that's the end of it!"_

Matt smiled to himself, the type of smile a person only shows when they know something you don't.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You could barely wake up the next morning, and thanked God it was the weekend. Your first day of classes may have started off on the wrong foot, but you were lucky that it started on a Friday, and you now had all the weekend to yourself.

You were just about to fall asleep again when you heard a knock on your door.

"Ugh…unless it's a massage therapist, go away."

"I am in a way, but not professionally though."

You rolled yourself out of bed and opened the door to Matt, as predicted. He eyed you from head to two, and you realized you never changed out of Mello's clothes.

"You look like a tranny in those clothes," he said, stifling a laugh.

"Pre or post op.?"

"Post operation, hence the boobies," he stated. He pointed at your chest, but you slapped his hand away.

"Matt, you're such a pervert."

He grinned brightly. "Yep, I know. Anyway, wanna come over and play DDR with me pleaaasseee? Mello's being bitchy, so I think it's that time of the month, and it's not like anyone else is willing." He pleaded with his hands folded, pouting.

You sighed. "Do I look like I have the kind of energy for DDR? Besides, dancing's not my thing, and Dance Dance Revolution was always too fast for me."

"Aw c'mon, I haven't really seen civilization for the past two days! And its not always fun to play one-player. I always win against computer characters."

You rolled your eyes. "I'm not changing you know. Too lazy. And if I break my ankle, you're paying for my medical bills."

He smiled widely. "I'll start you off on easy."

Matt tugged you along, and threw open the door to his room. "Ta-da!" he said happily.

Mello and Matt's room could be easily distinguished by parts. Mello most likely slept in the bottom part of a bunk bed in the right corner of the room. The top part of the bunk bed would then be Matt's, but it looked relatively unused. You assumed it was probably because most of his time was spent sitting on the bean bag chair in front of the T.V. playing games, and that the chair served a double purpose as his bed.

Mello owned little of the shared dorm; his bed, the work desk, and a drawer in the night table. Matt's wide collection of games and all things belonging to him seemed to have engulfed the rest of the space in the room.

As you and Matt entered the room, Mello was barely awake, wrapped up in a cocoon-like shelter made from his covers. Matt leapt onto the bottom part of the bed and jumped up and down repeatedly, not caring if every so often he hit his head on the top bunk.

"Mello Yellow, Mello Yellow, Mellow Yellow, Mello Yellow!" Matt chanted.

"Nnn…Matt I'm gonna choke the life out of you….Go away!"

"But Mello Yellow me n' Harmony are here and we're gonna play DDR. Wanna join or maybe watch me kick her butt?"

"I'm still here, you know," you said with annoyance.

Mello sat up from within his protective cocoon. "H-Harmony? Why are you here?" He stared at you from head to toe just as Matt did. "And you never changed?"

"I'm lazy."

"Oh."

Matt took out the DDR mats from underneath a pile of games. He smirked at you as the T.V. screen flickered with the main menu. "Ready?"

You readied yourself on the mat. "Uh huh. Let's get it over with."

Matt chose the song 'Butterfly' and suddenly shifted from Easy to Hard mode.

"MATT WHAT THE HELL?" you yelled. He smiled evilly. "Whoops, wrong button."

The screen flashed with arrows all over, but you found yourself easily dancing through it, your steps quick and precise. Matt struggled to keep up. "I…thought…you hated…DD…R….and that you….sucked….at it!" Matt protested between pants.

"I'm…a quick learner….I guess!" you breathed back.

Suddenly your foot slipped and got entangled in a web of wires.

You fell backwards, twisting as you fell, and crashed into Mello….getting a face full of Mello's crotch.

"OHMYGOD!!!!" Mello shrieked.

"PFFWAHHHH!" you spat, retracting quickly and landing with a thud on the floor.

"AHAHAAA! THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR LYING!" Matt hollered, with tears in his eyes from laughing so hard.

You hit your head repeatedly against the carpeted floor, and Mello buried his face in his pillow with embarrassment.

"I need…to use the bathroom…excuse me," you said quickly and exited the room.

Matt smiled as you left, and turned over to look at Mello. His face was still buried deep in his pillow past the point of no return.

"Mello?" Matt reached over and grabbed a fistful of his hair, yanking him up from the pillow to reveal his face, which resembled a bright tomato.

Matt smiled the same smile he did during the night before, the same "all-knowing" smile.

"Mello Yel-"

"Fuck off, Matt."

Matt left the room to find you. You were sitting by the bathroom entrances, huddled with your knees to your chest, ignoring the stares of bathroom goers.

Matt leaned down until his face was eye level with yours.

"I'm just gonna say three things. One: You shouldn't be embarrassed so much, I mean, you didn't _intentionally _give him a blowjob and-"

"Asshole."

"Ok, then. Two: Mello's actin' weird. Normally he would've said something like maybe 'I know you want me but this is a bit much, don't you think?' but he didn't, which is probably because of you-"

"Asshole."

"And three…." Matt knelt down now to whisper in your ear.

"I think Mello is beginning to like you….be afraid, be very afraid."

He smirked, and began to walk away, but stopped.

"By the way, I won."

You rolled your eyes. "No shit. You really don't know the right times to say things, do you?"

"Not really." He continued walking.

"Oh, and Matt?" you yelled after him.

"What?"

"That was four things."

"Really? I never did like counting."


	7. Act Seven: Revenge

**___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Mello: WTF?!?!**

**Matt: *pouts* I can count just _fine, _thank you very much!**

**Me: Do you guys _always _have to dwell on previous chapters?!**

**Mello: _Yeah, when you friggin' make Harmony land on my friggin' crotch!!!!_**

**Me: Hehe, oh yeah...I had fun with that. ^^**

**Mello: Witch.**

**Me: Just get the diclaimer done with, already.**

**Matt: Misseh owns nothing! And that was a sentence with _three_ words. See? _I count perfectly!_**

**Me: *claps* Very good, Matt! You're on a pre-K level, finally!**

**Matt: -_-  
**

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Seven: Revenge

You decided it was best to give Mello space after "the incident". One side of you was saying that it was immature to make such a big deal out of it, but the other told you that nothing but awkwardness would come out of talking to him anytime soon.

Especially if Matt's assumption was true……

You shook those thoughts away. They were irrational…impossible.

The self promise of isolation you made lead you to avoid both Matt and Mello for about a week's time. Only in class would you see them, but you made all effort to make little contact. As you grew slightly apart, you felt as though you lost a part of yourself. Matt and Mello were the little makeshift family knit together after you lost your parents; Matt was your first friend, and Mello…he grew on you.

As the bell rang for the end of lunch, you picked up your tray and headed for the kitchen. You sat alone today, trying your best to ignore the stares from afar coming from Matt's table. As you carried your tray steadily in your hands, you felt a sudden shove from the bottom of it, and all of the tray's contents splattered onto your shirt. Apple sauce stained your shirt, juice stuck to your skin, and strands of spaghetti wrapped around your wrists.

You looked up to see your abusers, and recognized some familiar faces: it was the same group of girls, ranking in the 300s, that had beaten you to a pulp on your first day of class.

The leader of the girls flipped back her hair and stuck her nose in the air. "Not so high and mighty now, are you newbie?" Her harsh words dripped with hatred and contempt.

You kept your head low, mouth silent, and kept busy with flicking off some of the food sticking to you.

One of her followers spoke up. "We told ya to keep your place. Don't think that we would just 'disappear' after the beat down. We checked the rankings everyday. You're fourth now, and only within a month since you arrived, too." She smirked and leaned towards you threateningly. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

The leader raised her hand to her follower's face. "Shut up now. Who the hell said you could speak?" Her eyes moved towards you, and then to the lunchroom, who by now noticed the commotion and stared in silence.

The leader plastered on a fake smile. "Oh, I'm so sorry for bumping into you! Let's get you cleaned up." She gripped your wrist tightly and dragged you swiftly to the kitchen.

As you were dragged away, Mello reacted quickly. "Mel, where you off to?" Matt asked. "Stay. Here." Mello said sternly. And with that, he headed off, like a man on a mission.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The group of girls had dragged you by your heels to the kitchen, and as in the past, once again pinned you to the wall. You braced yourself for their familiar punishment, and what was promised was delivered. They punched you again and again in the gut, each time with more force and contempt. They also now pulled at your hair fiercely, as if their goal was to yank if right out of your scalp.

In the middle of the torture ritual, the leader stepped back, her two followers still pinning you to the wall. "Wait." She headed to one of the cabinets, pulled something out, and faced you again, a wide smirk on her face. "When provided with tools," She said, pulling from behind her back a wide stainless steel pan. "….Use them."

You were used to the beatings and punches, but you felt your stomach sink to your feet when she pulled out the pan, glimmering in the light. _This isn't just about pride and competition, or simple minded bullying, _you thought. _She truly has…murderous intentions._

Your breathing came out in shallow pants, your fear and emotion uncontrollable. Your aggressor only smiled wider, deranged. "Maybe last time I wasn't clear enough….."

She lifted the pan high above her head. "_But you will learn for sure this time!"_

You shut your eyes tightly; afraid of what was to come.


	8. Act Eight: Guardian Angel

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Mello: Y-You... you really are a _monster!_**

**Me: What did I do now?!**

**Mello: You _hurt _the _reader! Again!!!_**

**Me: But it's all a part of the plot!**

**Mello: I don't give a shit! If you keep hurting everyone, no one will read this anymore. You're making this so depressing.**

**Me: J-Just shut up and do the disclaimer! *tears***

**Mello: Psh...fine, whatever. Misseh doesn't own Death Note, the characters, and so on.  
**

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Eight: Guardian Angel

After a couple of moments, you still didn't feel anything. You heard a loud _clank, _the sound of the pan falling to the floor.

You opened your eyes cautiously to see Mello grasping your assailant's wrist tightly, the group leader's weapon thrown to the ground.

"What the-" she said in surprise. Mello's lips were pursed in a straight line, his eyes narrowed. You never knew that eyes so icy could burn with such fiery fury.

The leader began to panic, her eyes darting from Mello to her minions.

"Well?! What are you standing around for? Get him!" she ordered.

The followers immediately dropped you to the floor. All 3 girls lashed out at Mello, colliding into him. They landed on the floor, the followers putting all their weight on his elbows to keep his hands down. He moaned in pain.

The leader smiled triumphantly. "Don't play hero unless you can actually win, dumbass,"

Her fist smashed into the side of his face, his head whipping to the side. She stood up from her sitting position on his chest, and stepped hard on his stomach, knocking the breath out of him. She stood back, hands on her hips.

"Do what you want with him. He's such a nuisance," she motioned to her followers.

They immediately obeyed, and released their fury on him. They scratched gashes into his face, punched him in his gut, and kicked a total of three times in his crotch.

Mello's moans of pain were hard to listen to you. You bolted toward him, but the leader caught you and held your hands behind your back.

"Now…watch your friend fall into pain. An innocent person…..and it's _your entire_ fault, because you don't listen."

Tears fell like waterfalls from your eyes. "S-Stop! _Stop it!_"

The followers stepped back, and you caught glimpse of Mello's mangled, helpless body curled up in a ball on the floor. The leader laughed. "Psh…what a pussy. Good for nothing."

Mello shifted. He brought himself up to a sitting position, his head hanging so that his hair covered his face, casting a dark shadow. His body trembled with what you thought was pain, but it in fact was something utterly the opposite.

Mello tilted his head back…_and laughed._

The way he laughed was almost unnatural to you; his body beaten and sitting on the floor, his head tilted backwards and his mouth in a wide smile. In laughter. You felt as though that at any moment he would twist his head around completely and start crawling up the walls, like something out of an exorcism.

Mello's laughter echoed in the deadly silence of the room, the assaulting group of girls standing with faces expressing pure shock and horror.

"You know…," Mello said in a low voice. "Someone smart once told me that getting hurt…is nothing to cry over. Wounds heal…"

He turned his head toward the leader of the group. You heard her let out a small gasp.

He smiled. "It's true. Wounds heal. But you know….." He paused. He slowly whispered:

"_Death doesn't."_

"GAHHH!" The leader of the group screeched in terror, and threw you to the side. She pointed a shaky finger at the beaten boy on the floor. "Y-You…You're crazy!!" Her eyes widened as though they were to pop out of her head. Her followers now backed away towards the door, and the entire group escaped out the back door of the kitchen.

You sat silently on the floor, sitting pretzel-style. You stared in shock yourself at Mello, his back to you. You were shaken by the event, unsure of how to feel; you were grateful to Mello, who saved you from being hurt a lot worse than you already were; you felt in debt to him because he got hurt in the process; you felt fearful because you saw a new frightening side to the already dark and seemingly hateful boy you knew.

"…..."

"…Are you…ok?"

Your head shot up in surprise to Mello's question. "Uh….Ah! Y-Yeah…but I shouldn't be talking. You-" You paused, feeling as though you were unable speak. You got up suddenly, and rushed to the sink, wetting a towel. You felt Mello's eyes following your movements as he remained sitting on the floor.

You slowly walked over to Mello with the towel, and pressed it over his cheek, which was coated in a purple bruise and many gashes. He winced, then relaxed. "T-Thank you," you said, unsure of what else to say. "You…saved me from…uh, getting hurt real bad back there…"

Mello held up his hand. "Shut up. Don't feel forced to make any type of small talk or anything, and don't feel bad. I hate pity," he said.

And so, as you tended to Mello's wounds the best you could, you both sat in total silence.

And you felt as though it was the best conversation you ever had.


	9. Act Nine: Birthday

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Mello: -_- Oh I see how it is. You don't get enough of a "kick" out of hurting our readers, so now you need to go after _me!_**

**Me: Oh come om, Mello! It's to make things more _dramatic!_**

**Matt: HAHA Mello was such a creepo in the last chapter!**

**Me: He was DRAMATIC!**

**Near: I found the entire laughing scence rather terrifying...and it takes a lot to make Mello more terrifying than he already is.**

**Mello: YOU LITTLE PRICK I'M GOING TO-**

**Me: DRAMATIC!!!**

**Near: Ah, yes, the disclaimer. Misseh does not own Death Note nor does she own the characters, and so on.  
**

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Nine: Birthday

It turned out that your "best" at tending to wounds was equivalent to the efforts of a five-year old. Correction: a five year old could probably do _better._

"U-umm, I don't think I did it right…," you shyly admitted, looking at the finished product. Mello's head was wrapped almost entirely in towels, resembling a mummy. Only some strands of his blonde hair and one eye stuck out from the wrapping.

Mello's visible eye blinked. "Yeah, I was kinda figuring that out when I lost visibility to my other eye."

You tugged at the bandages in embarrassment, quickly undoing them. "Sorry. I'm not exactly much of a nurse." The bandages were off now, and Mello shook his head. "It doesn't matter if it was done right or not. The thought was what counted."

Mello got up and held up his hand. "Well, lunch should be over by now. Sorry those bitches ruined it for you."

After helping you get up, he immediately let go and headed for the door. You were taken back by his sudden cold action.

"M-Mello?"

He turned around. "I assume that you want to go back to ignoring me and Matt, right?"

You turned in shame. "I just thought…that you wouldn't want to see me either. You know, after the whole DDR thing…."

Mello laughed. "Stupid, don't blow things out of proportion. Let's leave it at "It was all Matt's fault," ok?"

You smiled with relief. "I guess so…But I can't help but feel bad for Matt. He gets blamed for everything."

Mello smirked. "It's usually his fault anyway. Matt's just so easy to abuse."

"Careful there, Mello, you sound like you're into some weird torture techniques with Matt…You two having a nice sexy time?"

"Shut up, retard."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Days passed since the event in the kitchen, and Matt was quick to embrace you back since your absence (more like a complete glomp). Mello stuck to you like glue, and the 300s group as you called them, made sure to stay far, far away.

Peace seemed to have once again returned to Wammy's from your point of view…or so you thought, until you saw the date on the calendar.

Tomorrow was your birthday.

And you _did not _want Matt or Mello finding out, blowing up the occasion into a worldwide event.

It was a day bound for disaster.

The morning of the day before your birthday, you pondered over countless ways to keep Matt and Mello from figuring out what day it was tomorrow. Of course the obvious choice was just to not say anything, but that is something that only works with normal people. We are talking about geniuses here; a pair of very nosy, very determined geniuses. They were bound to figure it out sooner or later.

You rolled out of bed that morning, still absorbed in your thoughts. Matt knocked lightly on the door once and came into your room unannounced.

"You know, Matt, usually people have this thing called 'manners', and they _ask_ first before coming in."

Matt plopped onto the bed, laying back. "Oh really? I think I was born without that manners thing, whatever it's called."

You rolled your eyes, and saw at that moment that your calendar was placed almost conveniently behind Matt's head, on the wall beside your bed. You smiled warily, panicking, searching for a reason to get him off the bed and out of your room so that he wouldn't notice your calendar, tomorrow's date labeled and circled in red.

"U-Uh, hey Matt, what do you say we go for another round of DDR? Bet I can beat you now."

Matt's eyes closed in comfort, and he seemed to have not looked at the calendar yet. "Nah, I just came in to say hi, is all. I'm pretty busy today," he said, getting up and now heading for the door.

Your eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Since when are you _ever_ busy? You're always bored, searching for something to do or playing those video games."

He smiled. "Today is different. I'm busy."

"Doing what?"

"Planning your birthday bash, obviously."

You felt your heart drop. "….Damn. Matt, listen, don't make this too much of a big deal, ok? You tend to go overboard."

"Oh please. Don't worry about anything, ok? I'm a master at parties, and when it comes to my friends," he paused, spreading his arms out dramatically. "It'll be the best damn party in the history of birthdays."

You groaned. "Matt, please, I don't want a big party, I just-"

Mat plugged his ears and left the room. "Lalala-I-Can't-Hear-You!" he chanted.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You went about the rest of the day sulking, awaiting each moment that would lead up to Matt's huge and embarrassing party.

Lunchtime arrived soon, and you sat down quietly at your regular table. Matt was absent, and Mello sat reading and munching on chocolate.

"Hey…," you greeted, and he gave no reply except for a nod.

"Where's Matt off to?" he asked, eyes still glued to the book.

You moved aside your tray and laid your head on the table. "He's….planning my big birthday party."

Mello looked up from his book. "Really? You know, if an awesome party is what you're aiming for, Matt's definitely your guy. You should've seen the party he threw himself last year. I mean, most people don't remember 'cuz I think he spiked the punch….but anyway, you're in for a big one."

"….Yeah," you mumbled in fake excitement.

Mello eyed you curiously, and then got up with his tray. "I got to go; I've better get ready for the party now that you mentioned it."

You picked your head up from the table. "Ok then, see you there."

The lunch bell rang soon after, and you headed off to class.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You made as slow a pace as possible through the hallways while heading to your dorm. It was the evening now, and you dreaded the inevitable party awaiting you in your dorm. As you reached closer and closer to your room, you heard a quiet and steady beat, much like a heartbeat.

_Bump, bump, bump,_ the beat grew louder, and you realized it was the pounding sound of music on full volume. The beats became accompanied by the sound of bass, guitar, and singing and you were now sure of it. You reached your room soon, the source of the commotion.

As you opened the door, you were greeted by a shower of confetti that rained on you. The room flickered with strobe lights and every so often the disco lamps would change the room different colors.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARMONY!" greeted the crowd of people in your room. Matt pushed his way through the crowd, and embraced you in a bear hug.

"So, what do you think?!" he shouted to you over the music.

"Matt, this is great and all, but you really didn't need to-"

"No need to thank me! Just enjoy the party!!" he shouted, cutting you off.

He shoved you into the crowd, which grabbed you from your limbs and lifted you. The next thing you knew you were crowd surfing across a sea of people in your cramped party room. "What the- let me go!" you protested, but few heard you over the music.

When you reached the end of the sea of people and you were finally put down, you were at the other end of your room. Matt was busy at his host duties, serving drinks and occasionally thrashing about to the music. While he was distracted, you made your way across the room, disguised by the mass of dancing bodies. You made your escape through the door you entered, and made a break for freedom.

You found yourself in the peace and quiet of the hallways again. You sighed. "Matt…I told you not to…."

Suddenly, you felt someone grip your wrist from behind, pulling you backward. "W-WHA?!" you tried to scream, but their hand covered your mouth. As a blindfold was placed on you, the world around you went dark, and your assailant was now leading you to a destination unknown.

You walked for a long time, even going down a flight of stairs, which proved scary and difficult for you since you were flying blind. After 10 minutes, you felt your assailant pull you to a stop. The person pushed down on your shoulders, and your behind felt the solid surface of the seat of a chair. The assailant put your hands out in front of you, and you felt the familiar stone surface of the Wammy's kitchen countertop.

The assailant's footsteps walked away from you, and a voice spoke. "You can take off your blindfold."

You reached behind your head, and removed the knot of your blindfold. As you did so, you saw that it was still fairly dark in the room. There was a dim source of light, and you saw it to be from the flames of birthday candles.

On the table in front of you sat a large birthday cake, with the words "Happy Birthday Harmony" scribbled in icing.

The cake wasn't professionally made, but it wasn't terrible either. It was drenched in chocolate fudge and decorated with more squares from various chocolate brands, ranging from Hershey's to Butterfingers to Crunch bars. You recognized the taste in sweets.

Mello sat across from you, his hands fumbling with a cross he wore around his neck nervously. He looked up at you as you stared.

"Look, I know it looks like someone basically shit on the plate," he said, pushing the cake gently towards you. "But its chocolate I swear. And besides, I slaved over it all afternoon, so if you don't eat it willingly, you leave me no choice but to shove the thing down your throat."

You laughed, and Mello eyed you curiously. "What's so funny?"

"Ha-ha, nothing', it's just that when you said you slaved over making a cake all afternoon, I couldn't help but imagine you in a pink apron with your hair up and singing and stuff, sort of like a Snow White setup, if you get me. It _really _doesn't help you seem any less gay."

Mello punched you in the shoulder. "So, what, is that some way of thanking me?"

You smiled genuinely now. "No, I'll say thank you…but answer one question first. How did you know?"

He grinned. "Well, in a way…you're like me. You don't like huge, embarrassing parties. So, I figured a cake away from the noise of Matt's bash would be enough."

He put his head in his right hand, resting it. With the other hand, he pointed at the candles, still lit with the wax beginning to drip. "What are you waiting for? Make a wish."

You closed your eyes, and blew out the candles, a total of 14.

"What you wish for?"

"It won't happen if I tell you."

"Won't happen if you don't tell me, either."

"…Fine. A nice, quiet birthday with friends."

"Well, woop-dee-friggin'-doo, it came true."

You shook your head. "I wouldn't exactly consider you a friend."

Mello grimaced. "You're pretty bitchy for a birthday girl, you know that?"

You smiled, shoving a mouthful of cake into his mouth. "I know."

"….Yeah, Yeah, I know…." Mello said, chewing his mouthful. "You're welcome. Happy birthday."


	10. Act Ten: L

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Me: U-Um...hello? Where'd everybody go?**

***Silence***

**Me: YOU GOTTA BE FRIGGIN' KIDDING. THEY LEFT ME TO DO THE DISCLAIMER BY MYSELF?? *sobs* HOW COULD YOU BETRAY ME, MY DEATH NOTE SLAVES?!**

**Matt: OH FINE, I'll do it! Just stop with the self-pity.**

**Mello: TRAITOR!**

**Matt: Misseh does not own Death Note or its characters. Though she wishes she owned a sexy thing like me ;D  
**

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Ten: L

You and Mello finished your birthday cake in a fairly short amount of time, shoving the chocolaty wonder into your stomachs as quickly as possible. When the cake was finished, you leaned back in your chair, your stomach full and distended. Mello went on to then lick the plate and get every last crumb.

You made a sickened expression. "You're such a piggy."

Mello removed the plate blocking his face, and narrowed his eyes. "It's _chocolate,_ what do you expect from me? Besides, I think I deserve this. I _made it._"

You sighed, and looked at the clock on the kitchen wall. It read 12 midnight exactly.

"Mello, I think I should get back to Matt's party…thing…he's bound to have noticed…by, uh…now," you said sleepily. A full stomach and the darkness of the night were not helping.

You stumbled out of your chair, and grabbed Mello's shoulder. "Come with me. In the case I collapse from insomnia, you will have the duty of carrying me, and explanations to Matt."

He rolled his eyes. "You're so lazy."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As you predicted, Mello ended up carrying you all the way to your dorm room. You barely made it halfway out of the kitchen before you requested to be carried.

Mello walked slowly down the halls with you sound asleep on his back, being carried piggyback style. When he reached your room, he only needed to knock once before Matt opened the door.

He stood with messy hair, his goggles hanging around his neck, bangs in his eyes, arms crossed. Looking around the room, Mello saw it obvious that the party had long since ended, and Matt was left with the hard duty of cleaning up the dorm, which looked like an atomic bomb had gone off.

Matt stood disappointed, staring at Mello first, then at your sleeping face on his back.

"Humph….figured." He waved Mello into the room, throwing any garbage on the bed to the floor. "Put her down."

Mello lay you down gently, tucking the covers up to your head.

Matt tapped his foot impatiently. "So, mind telling me why she wasn't present at her own birthday bash?"

"Because you're ignorant, stubborn, and stupid."

Matt pouted. "What, she didn't like it?"

"You really don't see little hints people drop, do you? She doesn't like huge bashes, just small parties."

"Aw, man," Matt complained, leaning against the wall. "You're both so _boring._"

"It's called being _sane,_ Matt. You should try it sometime."

Matt smiled. "Well, if I did that, life wouldn't be so fun, would it?"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You awoke the next morning with your bed shaking.

You shot up immediately, thinking it was an earthquake. It turned out to be Matt, jumping up and down at the bottom part of your bed.

"WAKE UP! RIGHT NOW! SERIOUSLY!!!" he cried, jumping more furiously.

"Nn….Matt what the hell is going on? Somebody die?!?"

He was grinning from ear to ear. "You don't know? L is here today! Everyone is downstairs already! C'mon, I came here so you wouldn't miss it, so hurry up!"

Matt kicked you out of bed, and you tumbled to the floor, entangled in your covers. He went running to your closet, yanked out a random t-shirt with jeans and threw them at you. "Get up, lazy ass!"

You set yourself free from your cage of covers, and grabbed the heap of clothes Matt threw at you. You kicked Matt out of your room and quickly got changed. As soon as you opened the door, Matt grabbed you by the wrist and dragged you in a mad dash down the hallway.

"M-Matt! Where are we going?"

"Where else? To see L, duh!"

"Wait a sec? Who is this "L" person?"

Matt stopped dead in his tracks, sending you crashing into him. "Dumbass, don't stop so suddenly…," you grumbled. Matt simply stared at you, dumbfounded.

"You…You can't be serious. I-I mean, you can't possibly be _that _stupid."

You narrowed your eyes. "Don't make fun of me, just tell me!"

Matt shook his head furiously in disbelief. "I-It just seems impossible! How can you _be _here and not know who _L _is? I mean, for God's sake, he's the greatest detective in the world! The guy everyone here is trying to live up to; to one day succeed L is the purpose of staying here at Wammy's!"

"Oh..," you said quietly in embarrassment. "Well, um, what's he look like?"

Matt started off in a sprint again, dragging you behind him. "Not many people have seen him, actually. Few know who he is, and he almost never goes out in public. Whenever L comes here is something you _definitely _don't want to miss."

Matt brought you down quickly to the lunchroom, which was crowded with what seemed to be every kid in Wammy's. The room was abuzz with excitement, the children eagerly anticipating L's arrival. You yourself was anxious, most likely because this would be your first time meeting the world's greatest detective.

Matt dragged you through the crowd until he finally found Mello, sitting down munching on a chocolate bar nervously. He stared into space aimlessly, almost not noticing yours and Matt's arrival.

Matt took a seat and motioned you to sit down as well. "Ignore Mello; he's always like this whenever L comes. He's his idol, after all."

The lunchroom slowly hushed as Roger came into the room with another mysterious, mustachioed old man in a dark suit and hat. He took off his hat and bowed it politely to the crowd of children. Roger cupped his hands together to yell out and address the room of children. "As most of you know, this is Watari. Greet him properly."

"Hello, Watari," the lunchroom echoed.

The old man smiled. "Hello, children. L will be arriving in a few moments."

The commotion in the lunchroom heightened again, but died with Roger's repeated banging on a table as a request for silence.

Suddenly, the entrance to the lunchroom opened, and the children almost simultaneously gasped. In stepped a peculiar man, hunched in posture, and without a shoe for his feet in sight. His hair looked as though it hadn't been brushed in a while, resembling much like a permanent bed head. Dark circles were under his eyes; they were not like makeup, but more from a lack of sleep. The man put his thumb to his lips casually and greeted the gaping room.

"Good morning, children."

The room entered an uproar, children running over to see L. Roger's cries of protest were lost in a sea of "Hello, L!", "I'm so happy you're finally here!", and "Did you bring me anything, L?", as well as plenty of "L, did you see the rankings? Aren't you proud of my improvements?"

Roger stood up on one of the tables, his face red with anger. "SILENCE!" he shouted. The uproar slowly quieted down. "Now, anyone who is not in the top four of rankings, _leave!"_

The room groaned, and filed out of the lunchroom slowly. After ten minutes or so of ushering out the massive crowd, only you, Near, Mello, and Matt were remaining.

Mello and Matt swiftly ran up to the man called L, Near walking slowly behind.

"Yo, L, how've you been?" Matt greeted casually.

"Matt, don't act like you have no manners. Good morning, L," said Mello softly in admiration. Near remained silent, now sitting in his regular position on the floor.

You remained behind them, watching from afar, shy and embarrassed too much to introduce yourself.

L's eyes, pools of deep black, traveled to you. "Now, I haven't met you before, have I?" he inquired. You flinched as he addressed you. "N-No," you stuttered.

"Well, then, if you _are _one of the top four, why don't you come and join us?" You slowly walked over to the group and hid yourself partially behind Matt.

Matt chuckled. "Her name's Harmony. She's got a photographic memory, and I think she's a mind reader since she told me what I had for breakfast once, but that was mostly because I had stuff all over my face….anyway, she's pretty smart. She went from 405th to 18th in the rankings in a week, and then all the way to 4th in a matter of months!" Matt boasted. You felt flustered with embarrassment.

L put his thumb to his lips again. "Interesting. You're very talented, Miss Harmony."

You blushed at his comment. "T-Thanks…" Mello eyed you closely, as you blushed, then turned away.

L clasped his hands together. "Oh, that's right, I brought gifts." Watari nodded and brought forth a white bag. He reached inside, and handed out gifts to each of the children in the room. For Near, a new deck of tarot cards. For Matt, a new video game that had not yet even hit the store shelves. For Mello, chocolate imported from different parts of the world, all wrapped neatly together in a box.

L looked at you carefully. "Now, since I haven't met you before, I didn't really know what sorts of things you may like. However, I didn't forget you."

He reached deep into the bag and pulled out a black box and handed it to you. You opened it carefully, and inside was a shiny new cell phone.

You gasped at the great gift. "This cell phone is uniquely made. It cannot be tracked, can hold battery for up to a month without dying, and has unlimited everything. Best of all, extension 3 will allow you to call me personally if you ever are in a pinch," L stated.

The group around you stared at your gift, and then at their own with jealousy. You blushed and smiled with pure happiness. "T-Thank you very much, L."

"Miss Harmony, I believe you should get that speech impairment checked. Stuttering is very unbecoming on a genius."

You laughed nervously. "No, I don't usually stutter, I guess I'm just nervous. But really, though, thank you."

Roger stepped forward. "Alright, that's enough now. Be back here in a bit for another surprise that L has in store."

Roger ushered you all out, however unwilling you were.

After you left the lunchroom, and the door was securely closed, you felt it was safe enough to show reaction. "WOW! L is so…so….I don't even know the words! He's weird, but not in a bad way. He's interesting, and I can totally see how he's the best," you spat out. Matt patted your back. "Hey now, newbie, don't get overexcited."

You blushed again, earning another quick gaze from Mello. "Sorry, guess I overreacted." You slapped your cheeks. "Jeez, I have to stop blushing so much today."

Mello snapped his head towards you. "N-No!" he breathed. You and Matt stared at him in surprise, with more confusion on your part. Mello turned his gaze away quickly, and stared at the floor. "S-Sorry. Never mind…"

Matt smirked. "Who knew stuttering was contagious?"

Mello glared at Matt, and was about to say something when Watari came out from the lunchroom. "Alright, children, the arrangements have been made."

Matt's face glowed. "Really? Took long enough!"

You furrowed your brow. "Arrangements for what?"

Matt smiled wider. "It's time for L's game."


	11. Act Eleven: The Game

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**Mello, Matt, and Near: *stands like a brigade* OK, WE'VE HAD ENOUGH OF DOING YOUR DIRTY WORK. THIS TIME WE MEAN IT. DO YOUR OWN DISCLAIMER!**

**Me: OH COME ON GUYS! I'm too busy with my writing to do these disclaimers! That's what you're for!**

**Mello, Matt, and Near: NO!**

**Me: Fine, you want to be that way? *warps in new character***

**L: Where am I?**

**Me: DO THE DISCLAIMER!**

**L: Be you Kira?**

**Me: DO IT!**

**L: Misseh does not own Death Note nor does she own the characters, ect. Chance she is Kira, however, is up 3%.**

**Mello, Matt, and Near: *facepalms*  
**

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Eleven: The Game

Watari lead you back into the lunchroom, and ten minutes after the rest of Wammy's filed excitedly back into the lunch hall. L sat with his knees folded to his chest in the front of the room.

"Ok now, children," he said, the room quickly quieting. "It's time for my new game."

"Matt," you whispered. "What's this about a game?"

Matt leaned in to whisper to you. "See, every time L comes, he brings gifts for the top four. But to be fair to everyone else, he provides entertainment. Each time he comes he makes up a new game that tests us, and the winner receives a grand prize."

L bit his thumbnail. "This occasion's game will test your detective skills, and also your ability to work in a group. I call it the Wammy's Murder Case."

The entire lunchroom listened intently. "The objective is to find out who the murderer is amongst your peers. I will choose one person here to be the murderer, but whoever I chose is sworn to secrecy, and must, at all costs, keep his or her identity secret."

L paused, and, as though reading his thoughts, Watari brought forth a tray of tea and a cup filled with sugar cubes.

"You will work in groups of four with members of your choice. Each dorm has been re-created to represent the murder scene. All rooms are exactly alike; assuring everyone is on an equal playing field…" He paused to put three sugar cubes into his tea.

"…and each 'murder scene' contains the same hidden message that must be found out to identify the 'murderer'. If your group figures out the puzzle, it is then a new competition…." He put in five more sugar cubes.

"After your group figured out the 'murderer', and you are sure of your conclusion, the _individual_ who is able to capture the 'murderer' and bring him or her to Roger's office by the end of the day will receive the grand prize, assuming you are correct, of course."

The lunchroom erupted in commotion and excitement of this new game. Immediately, the children began splitting into their groups. Your head turned to look around the lunchroom, panicking for no particular reason, when Matt grabbed your wrist.

"Stupid, what are you looking around for? You already have a group!"

Matt pulled you to a corner with Mello there. You looked over the group, and realized there was obviously room for one more. "Hey, who's our fourth member?"

Matt shrugged. "I dunno, doesn't matter to me." You looked around the room, and saw, sitting alone at a table in an opposite corner, a familiar albino. Mello noticed the direction of your gaze and gagged. "Oh my God, _never!_"

You turned to Mello, his face still disgusted by your silent proposal. "Oh come on! When you think of it competition-wise, he's a good addition to our team."

Mello shook his head, fists clenched. "No! He's an antisocial, smug little freak who won't figure anything more that the three of us working together couldn't."

You made puppy dog eyes, pouted, and pleaded. "Mello, look at him. It seems everyone else either thinks the same as you or has contempt since he's number one. He won't find another group."

Mello looked at your saddened face, and quickly turned away. "Whatever, you're too nice you know….."

You smiled. "Thanks, Mello." You swiftly walked over to where Near was seated, and stood over him. "Hey, Near, wanna join Matt, me, and Mello for L's game? Our group is short one."

Near kept his eyes on a pile of dice he had out in front of him. "This was obviously your decision, right? Mello can't be too happy about it."

You shrugged. "He wasn't at first, but I begged I guess. He'll try to cooperate, so stop sitting on your own and come join us."

You tugged on Near's oversized white shirt and dragged him back to Matt and Mello. Your group was complete, and all four of you decided to observe the 'crime scene' from your room.

Your group left the lunchroom, filing out like the other students. You found yourself last in line, and before you left, L stopped you.

"Oh, Miss Harmony, I forgot to tell you something."

You turned quickly. "Oh, yes?"

"By the way, you're the murderer. Good luck!"


	12. Act Twelve: Investigation

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**Matt: The reader must be real pissed at you by now. I mean, you beat her twice, and now she's the unlucky "murderer" in this game.**

**Me: Are you kidding? The reader _loves_ me! What's there not to like?**

**Mello: You keep telling yourself that.**

**L: Why am I still here?**

**Near: Ahem....Misseh owns nothing. She doesn't own the characters of Death Note, though I am unsure if she owns an actual Death Note notebook...**

**L: 10%.  
**

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Twelve: Investigation

Upon entering, the 'scene of the crime' was nothing like your old room. All of your old furniture had been removed and relocated, and replaced with other pieces. The walls were splattered with red paint to represent blood, and on the floor lay a plastic dummy. The dummy's legs were bent in awkward directions, and its hands were mutilated, all but the index finger were cut off. You shuddered at the thought of how much worse it would be if it were a real body.

However, other things occupied your mind. You seemed to be the unlucky one chosen to be the 'murderer' by L, and you were on edge as to keeping this fact as much of a secret from everyone. Suddenly having the top four as your group didn't seem like so much of a good idea.

Mello walked around the room carefully, conscious as to not move or step any detail of the room. He was silent, deep in his thoughts. Matt, on the other hand, saw as to shift the dummy.

"Ha-ha! Look at this! It looks nothing like a body. How stupid!" He picked up the dummy and shook it.

Mello snapped to the laughing boy. "Matt, you dumbass! Don't touch anything!"

Matt flinched. "I-I'm sorry!" He looked with concern at the floor. "I'm sorry…I ruined all our chances…"

You knelt down next to the sad red-head. "No, no, Matt, it's ok. I remember the position of the dummy exactly." You pointed to your head for emphasis. "Photographic memory, remember?"

Matt let out a sigh of relief. "Ok, good."

You set the corpse back to its original position, and stood triumphantly. "Ok, so, who has any input on some sort of clue?"

"We're looking for a person with eight extra fingers-"

"Matt, shut up. You're so retarded." Mello retorted.

"Psh, whatever…" Matt pulled out his gameboy from his pocket and stayed silent.

You looked at the corpse again, observing its condition. The legs were missing, no sign of the limbs, and all fingers but the index were also gone…

"Hey, why did the killer cut off the limbs? I mean, like the legs and the fingers specifically?"

Mello walked over to you to look at the body from your view. "Hmm…well, the legs, I'm not sure about. But it's the fingers that interest me…why go through the trouble of cutting off the pinky, ring, thumb, and middle fingers, but leave the index?"

Near crawled over to sit beside the dummy, and lifted the hand. "The index finger…it's used like most fingers regularly. But, isn't used for the pointing purpose specifically?"

You walked over to Near's position, and immediately noticed the connection. "Near's right…If the killer left the index to signal he was 'pointing' in the direction of a clue, then maybe the direction of the finger specifically will lead to a clue."

You leaned down and traced the direction the finger was pointing to with your eyes. The line stopped at the wall. "It just hits the wall…"

Mello walked over swiftly. "Wait, isn't it a fact that a line on a mathematical plane doesn't end? So, if you imagine it, the line could move onwards, maybe even up the wall…." He traced with his finger upwards, and stopped when he pointed at a painting that hung just a few feet above the floor.

"Perhaps the killer has a hidden clue in the painting," Near reasoned. Mello moved his face close to the painting, observing each detail. You walked over to help him, and you both spent multiple minutes scanning the painting over and over. Your memory told you that there was nothing unusual with the painting.

Matt coughed. You continued to search nonstop.

_Cough. Cough. Cough._

The painting had no hidden message…..

_COUGH. COUGH. COUGH._

Could there be something in the frame?

"AHEM," Matt cleared his throat.

You finally turned around. "Matt? Do _you_ have something to say?"

"Who, me?" he asked innocently. "Oh, no, since all _my _ideas are _stupid_ and I should just _shut up._" Matt's eyes wandered from the game screen to glare at Mello.

You rolled your eyes. "Matt, if you think something is relevant, any help isn't stupid."

"Well…," he mumbled. "All you guys are doing is looking for some hidden message in the painting. But you know, have you ever thought of looking _behind _it?"

Mello turned around from his close proximity to the painting, and you backed up a little in shock yourself. "Well, uh, no, we haven't."

Mello turned slowly back to the painting, and lifted it off the nail it hung from on the wall. The wall was clean of a message, but when Mello laid down the painting so that it's back was facing upwards, the following was printed in small print on the back:

CDH GGDH.

Near observed the letter arrangement. "Well, if my assumption is correct, no rearranging of the letters will form a proper English word without a vowel. They aren't the initials of anyone here in Wammy's, so I'm still not quite sure of what this means."

You looked silently at the letter coding, trying to figure out the meaning. At the same time, however, you were debating if you should be of any further help, since you _were _the murderer. Your objective was so not get caught, not the opposite and help with your own demise.

But at the same time, your refusal to investigate may cause suspicion.

Suddenly, amidst your thoughts, you realized a possibility.

Rushing over to a desk, you pulled out some paper and pen. You began writing all the letters of the alphabet in a line. Then, underneath, you wrote the numbers 1 through 26, one number for every letter.

You tore the paper off the desk and held it up happily for everyone to see. "Um, it's nice you know your alphabet and numbers, but what does that have to do with anything?" Matt asked.

You rolled your eyes. "It has to do with _everything! _The letters aren't for any word or acronym, it's a _code!_"

You motioned for everyone to gather around. "Look, it's true that supposedly for every letter there is an accompanying number, right? For example, since A is the first letter of the alphabet, its number is one; B is two, C is three, and so on."

You began circling the letters that were on the back of the painting and the numbers underneath them. "It's simple! According to this, CDH GGDH is actually 348 7748!"

Mello's eyed shone with realization. "That's good, it's a start. We now know it's some sort of code, but question is, a code to what?"

Your train of success had screeched to a halt. "Oh, I haven't thought of that…"

Mello put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Well…if the code itself was simple to find, then maybe its purpose itself is just as simple. L wouldn't make this impossible to solve."

Near held out his hand to you, and you handed over the page with the numbers on the front. He looked at them deeply. "The way the numbers are arranged… maybe it's not so much an entry code…but, minus the area code…."

"It could be-"

"A phone number," Mello finished Near's sentence.

Suddenly, Mello and Near took a small intake of breathe. Their eyes traveled to glare at each other; both had the same look of discovery in their eyes, with a hint of competition.

Their eyes traveled from each other to you, and you began to sweat.

"E-Excuse me, I have to use the bathroom. But that phone number idea sounds pretty possible; maybe you should test it out."

Near shook his head slowly. "No need to. No one here has a phone with the exception of the one in Roger's office, and I doubt Roger is the culprit. That is, until this morning that was true."

Your hand traveled to your pocket cautiously, the location of your newly acquired cell phone. "As I said…excuse me, I have to use the bathroom."

You turned around to head out the door, but Matt blocked your way. "Tee-hee, look who's trying to run…" Matt smirked evilly.

You narrowed your eyes. "Matt, this isn't funny."

"Who said I wasn't serious?"

You felt a tug on your sleeve, and Near was holding onto your shirt from a position on the floor. He twirled his hair, and you witnessed a rare event: Near smiled smugly.

"You can't run. Game's over, Harmony."


	13. Act Thirteen: Darkness

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**Matt: Wow, the reader sure sucks at keeping her identity a secret. I mean, no offense or anything, but she got caught in less than an hour.**

**Mello: S-Shut up, Matt...**

**Me: D'AWWWW Look at Mello getting all defensive for his lover!**

**Mello: Go to hell.**

**Me: B-But I love you, too! Do you know how many pictures- Oh wait, never mind....**

**Mello: What _kind _of pictures?!?**

**Matt: While Misseh _does _have some explaining to do, she does _not _own Death Note or its characters.  
**

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Thirteen: Darkness

"_You can't run. Game's over, Harmony."_

Just as Near said that, a burst of panic and adrenaline ran through you. You hit the ground running, pushing Matt out of your way and sending him toppling into the wall.

You ran at full speed, not bothering to look back at Matt, Near, and Mello, who were gaining on you.

You ran swiftly past the kitchen, and down a flight of stairs. Glancing back, Matt and Near were still in pursuit, but Mello was nowhere to be seen.

Your aim was to eventually lose them in the great labyrinth that was the South end of Wammy's, remembering your night that you wandered from the hospital wing.

As you turned a sharp corner, a hand shot out and grabbed your shirt harshly, sending you falling head first into a closet that the hand came out from.

The person shut the door and locked it, and covered your mouth to keep you from screaming. "MMPH!" You kicked and twisted in the person's grasp, but that only made them hold tighter.

"Could you quit….squirming!" whispered a familiar voice. You managed to remove on of your hands from the tight grasp, and you moved your assailant's hand away from your mouth.

"M-Mello? How'd you-"

"Oh please, Harmony, I can read you like a book. And it obviously doesn't matter you have a photographic memory, because I _still _know all the shortcuts around this place a hell of a lot better than you."

You looked around the deep darkness of the closet, trying to figure out where you were, but it was useless.

You sighed. "Alright, Mello, you got me. I'm the 'murderer'."

Mello was silent except for the short gasps of his breathing. His grip around you never loosened. "Um…Mello, what now? You plan on turning me in?"

Mello let out a long sigh, his hot breath blowing on to you, making the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Mello rested his head your shoulder and you turned rigid.

"M-Mello?"

No answer.

You both sat in the dark in silence for five minutes before Mello finally spoke up.

"…no. I won't turn you in…" Mello slid his arms to wrap around your waist, and you gasped. He buried his face in your shoulder and squeezed you a last time before reaching up to open the door.

"Go," he said quietly in one of the softest voices you've ever heard.

He pushed you, but not hard, off his lap and out the door of the closet. You turned back to look at him as you fell out, but the darkness of the closet shrouded him so that all you saw was his silhouette. "M-Mello?" All you could do was repeat his name in confusion.

"Hurry up, or they'll catch you," he whispered. You decided to obey, and started to run. You looked back one last time to be sure, and he waved you off.

As you ran down the halls, Mello watched you as you became more and more distant. He sighed, and tilted his head back to rest on the back wall of the closet.

"For once…I guess the dark was a friend." He put his hand to his face, burning hot and red from a blush that spread across his cheeks like wildfire.

"The dark was a friend…it hid what I didn't want seen…"

"…."


	14. Act Fourteen: Rooftop

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**Me: Gosh I absolutely _love _Mello in this chapter! Yay for cute fluff!**

**Mello: -_- You make me look like such a pansie.**

**Matt: Your looks don't help, either.**

**Mello: *smacks Matt***

**Me: Stop the fighting! Fangirls do not like fighting unless the boys somehow end up tearing eachother's shirts off! At least that's my opinion...**

**Near: Isn't that closer to yaoi? I've seen many examples of that in some yaoi.**

**Mello, Matt, and Me: o.o  
**

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Fourteen: Rooftop

Matt leaned against a wall, doubling over in exhaustion. He'd been running for half an hour now, and he needed time to catch his breath. His red locks stuck to his forehead with sweat, and he reached to take off his shirt…

"Matt, I would consider it indecent exposure to take off your shirt in the halls."

Matt turned to Near behind him, and pulled his shirt down with a pout. "But it's so _hot _and we've been running for half an hour. Can we stop?"

Near knelt back down into his regular position, and twirled his white hair between his fingers. "It's strange, isn't it? We haven't been able to find her anywhere."

Matt sighed. "Maybe Mello had better luck and found her already?"

Near shook his head. "No, if Mello did that he would've found us a long time ago to laugh at me and gloat in his victory."

Near stared at the hallway's grandfather clock. "It's 8. We have two hours left until lights out and then the prize won't be viable anymore."

Matt stared into space in thought. Suddenly, he smiled, pulling his goggles over his eyes from his head. "You know…either Mello didn't find her, or he did…but let her go."

Near tilted his head in interest. "Why would he do that? Doesn't he want to win?"

Matt smiled bigger. "Oh yeah, he wants to win…but it's not L's prize that he's after."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mello walked down the hallway slowly, absorbed in his thoughts with his emotions engulfing him. He barely was able to pay attention to what was ahead of him; as far as he concerned, everything around him was a blur. Even when Matt grabbed his shoulder he barely cared.

"Mello Yellow, you look like you're a walking dead man." Mello grunted in reply.

"Mello Yellow, you smell at broom closet."

"Ugnh."

"Mello Yellow, your face is really red."

"Nn."

"Mello Yellow, you have an erection."

"Uh hu- WHAT?!?!?!"

Mello bent over, putting his hands between his legs.

Matt laughed. "AHAHA! Well, I had to get your attention _somehow_. And no, you don't, only kidding."

Matt smiled innocently. This smile faded quickly as Matt received a punch to his own crotch.

"_Ugnhhhh!" _Matt groaned, dropping on his knees to the floor.

Mello smirked. "That's what you get for being a smartass. Anyway, you guys have any luck?"

Matt rolled onto his side. "Mmnnf…..ouch….you…should know…of all people, Mello."

Mello's eyes narrowed. Matt smirked. "It's written all over your face, Mello. Honestly, you can be so easy to read."

"Don't make me kick you, asshole."

"Whatever…" Matt got to his feet slowly. "Wherever you hid her was one damn good hiding spot, though, 'cuz we can't find her anywhere."

Mello's eyes widened. "I didn't hide her, she just ran off."

Matt frowned. "Well, you know her so well, so you must have _some _idea of where she went."

Mello stared into space. Then, he had a spark of inspiration. "Everyone _in _Wammy's is after her. If I were her, I'd want to get away, too. Since she won't run away from Wammy's to get _out_, how does one think she'll improvise?"

Matt's lips curled into a small smile. "Of course."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mello opened the skylight slowly, the hinges creaking as it swayed open. He crawled his way onto the rooftop, with Matt close behind.

Mello gasped, and was quick to take off his coat he had on him.

He draped it over your shivering shoulders.

"I-It's c-c-cold, M-Mell-o…."

"I know…..I know…."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In the end, it struck 10 p.m. and no one had been able to capture you.

"Hmm…this was unexpected. Well, not entirely, but the possibility of the 'murderer' actually winning against all 405 children here was only 10%...."

L put his thumb to his lips. "Well, Harmony, you did manage to prevail in avoiding capture, so on a technicality, you are winner."

You smiled, which was followed by a sneeze, in which Mello used his sleeve to wipe your nose.

"Mello, you're clothes are dirty now," you protested.

He shook his head. "…I don't mind…," he said quietly.

L reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. "This is your prize."

You accepted the gift with confusion. "A key? To what?"

L smiled. "Wammy's has a small secret pool on its premises. This gives you all-access to it. Swimsuits are provided, of course."

Your eyes widened. "A-Are you SERIOUS?!"

Matt folded his arms across his chest and huffed. "Why the hell does she get all the cool stuff? She was the murderer! She wasn't supposed to win!"

You laughed. "Don't be such a sore loser, Matt. Besides, it's not like I'm going to keep an entire pool all to myself. I'm sharing with you guys, of course!"

Matt smiled widely, his eyes a brightening green. He jumped on you and squeezed you happily, planting a dramatic and friendly kiss in your forehead. "YOU'RE AWESOME, HARMONY!"

Mello stared at both of you with a blank expression. Matt noticed, and cleared his throat. "Ahem…uh, sorry if I got out of hand there. Just being friendly, is all. I get hyper pretty fast."

You smiled, wiping at your forehead. "Yeah, I can see that. It's just a pool, Matt. Stay calm."

Matt scratched the back of his head, eyeing Mello from the corner of his eyes. "S-Sorry…"

You turned to L. "Thank you very much L, I'll treasure today." With a smile, you stuffed the key into your pocket and walked towards your dorm. "I think I'll head back to my room for tonight. Bye, everyone."

Everyone waved goodbye happily except for Mello.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You lay flat on your back in your bed, reading a book that you held above you. You twirled the newly acquired key between your fingers, overjoyed with the day's turnout.

Mello did not knock; he entered your room unannounced.

"M-Mello! Knock first!"

Mello said nothing; he only made his way to where you lay, and stood over you, his head down.

You sat up, searching his face for what emotion he was feeling.

"Mello?"

Mello leaned down, and delicately pressed his lips to your forehead.

"……Only me…."

And with that, he left the room as unannounced as he came in.


	15. Act Fifteen: Thought

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Me: *snooze***

**Mello: Get _up! _It's time for the disclaimer!**

**Me: O-Oh, sorry...It's just that I updated this around 1:30 in the morning... I'm getting tired...**

**Matt: Pfft, that's nothing! I went four days without sleep on nothing but nicotine and 7-UP in determination to play all the Final Fantasy games at once!**

**Mello: He has an iron ass, that idiot. He never gets sore from sitting around playing games.**

**Me: *snoooozeeee***

**Mello: While she sleeps, I guess she has a _good _excuse for once to not do the disclaimer. Misseh does not own Death Note or its characters.  
**

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Fifteen: Thought

Mello closed the door to your room without a sound. He walked as though in slow motion to his room, shutting the door just as quietly. Then he practically ran into his bed, his face smashing into the pillow.

Matt turned away from the T.V. screen, pausing the game. "I never knew a pee break could be so traumatizing."

Mello groaned. "I lied, dumbass. I didn't go to the bathroom."

Matt tilted his head. "Where'd you go then?"

"….I kissed Harmony….."

Matt quickly ran over to his friend and grasped his shoulders tightly, pulling him up from the pillow. "YOU DID WHAT?!? NO WAY!!!"

Mello slapped Matt's hand away. "Not on the lips, idiot. Her forehead."

Matt's eyed narrowed. "Who kisses someone's forehead casually?"

"Apparently you, dickhead. You just did before when you got excited about the pool! I guess you can say she's disinfected now."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Oh please, my kisses are warm, sweet and oozing with _passion!_" Matt snapped his fingers and shook his hips from side to side. "Si, mi amore~" he said in a gruff voice.

Mello narrowed his eyes. "You're such an idiot, Matt." He put his head to rest again on the pillow.

Matt smiled. "Good for you, Mello," he said softly.

Mello turned his face to the wall. "…It doesn't mean anything…."

Matt shook his head, grinning. "It's a start."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You took a deep breathe, and knocked softly on the door. _Prepare yourself for Mello's wrath, _your conscience told you.

At your first knock, there was no answer. You knocked three more times, and harder. Finally, you heard movement from within the room, and the doorknob turned slowly.

Mello stood before you in nothing but a pair of black boxers. His hair still retained a bed head, and he rubbed his eyes innocently.

"Mnn…Harmony? Do you know what time it is?" he said softly.

You felt a tight pang in your chest.

You quickly patted your chest, confused by your body's strange reaction. _Hmm... Weird,_ you thought.

"Harmony…do you need something?" Mello asked, still rubbing his eyes.

"Oh…uh, sorry for waking you so early on a weekend…but, I was wondering if you and Matt want to help me "break in" the pool. I have access, after all….." You held up the key you wore around your neck like a necklace.

Mello's eyes opened wide awake now, his bright blue eyes gleaming brightly in the morning light.

_Pang_. You hit your chest again uncomfortably.

"You want to go to the pool?" Mello asked. He turned back to the room, then to you. "Sure, Matt and I will be ready in a bit."

He smiled. "Thanks for the invite."

_Pang._

You coughed. "Ahem…oh, no problem. When you're ready, just uh….knock on my door."

Mello closed the door, and you headed back to your room. You patted your chest repeatedly, confused. _What's up with me today? Am I sick or something?_

You shrugged, and plopped down into your bed, lying back on your pillow.

Within fifteen minutes, you heard a loud pounding on your door. You got up and as soon as you turned the doorknob, Matt exploded into your room, leaping out in front of you.

"TA-DA~!" he shouted, hands on his hips. His swimming trunks had a Pikachu pattern, and he wore his towel like a superhero's cape.

You snorted, stifling a laugh. "Pftt….Pikachu?"

His expression changed from proud to annoyed. "Well, if you don't like it, you have a choice from Link and Zelda, Final Fantasy, Super Mario, and Tetris."

You rolled your eyes. "Never mind, you're fine."

Mello came through the door behind Matt shyly. You looked at his swimming trunks…which were pink.

This time you couldn't hold in your laughter. "AHAHA! The pink is very masculine, Mello."

He groaned. "Whatever. A word of advice: _never _let Matt do your laundry."

You picked up a duffle bag filled with your things. "Ok, let's get going!"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You put your key into the lock, and it automatically unlocked. You opened the door, and you were greeted by the smell of chlorine. Looking around, the pool was much bigger than you expected, probably Olympic sized. You, Mello, and Matt gaped at the sight.

"I am now _officially_ glad I met you," Matt breathed.

You scoffed. "How nice of you to use me."

"Am not! Just saying…this gives you some serious props, dude."

Matt immediately set off running, throwing his things on the nearest chair. He ran around the pool, investigating every corner.

You smiled. "Well, Matt seems excited. It wouldn't be nice of me to withhold his fun, would it, Mello?" you asked.

"A little torture can't hurt too much…."

You rolled your eyes. "Oh, please. Besides, I want to jump in, too."

You lifted off the baggy T-shirt you had on, revealing a polka-dot bikini top underneath. Taking off your shorts revealed you had on your own pair of swimming shorts.

"'Kay, I'm done," you announced. Mello was utterly silent.

"Mello?"

Mello suddenly sprinted and jumped into the pool. He swam all the way to the other end of the pool, and hung onto the edge as though for dear life.

Matt made his lap around the pool, and made his way back to you. "What's with Mello Yellow?" he asked breathlessly.

"I don't really know. All I did was change, and then he ran away…"

Matt looked at you with one eyebrow raised. "You changed? In front of him?"

You shrugged. "Yeah. So?"

Matt sighed. "You're a dense, stupid, stupid girl. Now…" Matt suddenly grasped your shoulders and bulldozed you forward. "Go get him, tiger!"

"Wha-WHAT?!"

Matt pushed you into the pool without warning. You kicked your legs hard and spit water out as you reached the surface.

"Matt, you suck!" you shouted, but he only stood with a smirk on his face.

"Well, it's my duty as the Love Guru," he stated mysteriously.

In the meanwhile, Mello had quickly swum his way over to you. He grabbed you from under the water and swept you off your feet, carrying your body (weightless because of the water) to the edge, setting you down gently. He pulled himself out as well.

"Hey, you ok?" he breathed.

The edges of his hair were wet and his eyes were almost clearer than the shining pool water. Water droplets dripped down his chest, fairly built for his age…..

_Pang. Pang._

You clutched your chest and quickly pulled yourself up.

"E-Excuse me," you said, wrapping a towel around you, and running off to change.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_Miniature Heart Attacks. _

This is what you typed into Google. Matt peered over your shoulder curiously.

"What are you looking for?" he asked.

"Can't you read? I'm seeing if it's possible to have small reoccurring heart attacks…"

Matt laughed.

"HA! You're so _dense!"_

You turned to look at him, pouting.

"Don't make fun of me…"

He smiled. "Tell me…do these "heart attacks" happen when Mello's around?"

You thought for a while. "Um…come to think of it, yes."

"And do you see him somewhat differently lately?"

The memory of Mello wet came into your head. You felt like some sort of pervert and pushed it away. "…Well, sort of."

Matt smiled. "Silly, what's happening to you is that your heart skips a beat."

He leaned in, and almost in a whisper said:

"You're falling in love."


	16. Act Sixteen: Admittance

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Mello: Where's Misseh? I don't here her grating voice anymore...**

**Matt: I think she finally passed out from exhaustion.**

**Near: Look, she's on the floor. *pokes* But she doesn't appear to be moving or breathing...**

**Matt: NO WAY, she DIED?**

**Mello: FREEDOM!**

**Matt: You're mean! Do at least one _final _disclaimer in honor of her!**

**Mello: *sighs* Fine....Misseh does not own Death Note or the characters.**

**Me: *stirs* H-Huh? AWW you guys did the disclaimer and I didn't even have to force you? You're so sweet!**

**Mello: Damn....  
**

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Sixteen: Admittance

"L….L…._LOVE?!"_

Simply trying to say the word was seemingly impossible. Matt's conclusion was pure _stupidity _to you.

"Matt, I think I would know if I…l-loved Mello."

Matt smiled and nudged you with his elbow. "How cute…you're in denial!"

You sighed, annoyed. "I am _not _in denial."

"Oh yeah?" he scoffed. "If you didn't love him you wouldn't have such a strong reaction, miss, so trust me on this one. Dr. Mr. Professor Love-Guru Matt knows all."

You smirked. "If you know so much about matchmaking, how come you can't get a girlfriend yourself?"

Matt's smile faded. "You know, with that kind of attitude you won't get anywhere."

"Oh, please, Matt, I-"

Matt immediately pulled out his game boy and began playing. "Oh, I'm sorry; I can't hear you over the sound of me kicking a Pokemon Gym Leader's ass."

You rolled your eyes, but inwardly, somehow….

Matt made sense.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The weekend passed by quickly, and once again it was Monday. You sighed as your alarm clock rang unceasingly. You pushed it violently off your night table, making it crash into many pieces on the floor.

However, that soon sent your human alarm clock to take effect.

Matt jumped up and down on your bed. "Harmony…uh, see, your name isn't easy to rhyme like Mr. Mello Yellow Jello Fellow. Why couldn't you pick something simpler?" he complained. You groaned, cursing under your breath.

"Matt…ugh, do you _ever _sleep?"

He shook his head happily. "No, 'cuz that means less time for gaming."

You sighed again and dragged yourself out of bed. Matt's eyebrows rose when he saw your PJs.

"Are those…Mello's pajamas?"

You shrugged. "Yeah…so? I forgot to return them, but I'm sure he has plenty."

Matt smirked devilishly. "Hohohoho…..Really? Are you sure you don't just like wearing Mello's clothes?"

You rolled your eyes. "Grow up, Matt."

You pushed him out of your room and changed quickly. He pounded on the door.

"Mello and Harmony, sitting in a tree," he sang. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes awkward love, then comes a quicky Vegas marriage, then comes come UG-LY deformed babies in the baby carriage!"

"Shut _up _Matt!" you shouted from inside. Grabbing your things, you rushed out the door, pushing Matt aside. "Hurry up unless you want to be late, dipshit!" you shouted while dashing down the halls.

You ran with your palm over your face to cover up the red that tarnished it.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When you finally reached your classroom, you stood beside the doorway, slapped your cheeks a final time, and walked silently in the room. You stopped in your tracks quickly when you saw the room had changed positions.

Well, not in a literal sense, but the seating chart had been changed.

Another change was that your teacher was an entirely new person.

She was old, cranky-looking, and wearing a shade of pink that resembled cat barf. She stood with a hunchback even though she looked only forty, and she eyed you like prey from the corners of her eyes. She stuck her nose up at you and made a face like she expected some answer from you.

"Um…excuse me, but the seating chart is different….," you mumbled.

She crossed her arms across her chest and puffed. "When you speak to an adult, young lady, you speak up or no damn person is going to hear you." She closed her eyes smugly.

"And, yes, to state the obvious, I am your new teacher, and I changed seating arrangements."

Your eyes moved to the floor. "…Yes, madam, I'm sorry….."

She rolled her eyes and pointed out your seat….

Mello sat right next to you.

_Pang._

Mello sat turned toward the the wall with his head in his hands, a bored look on his face. When he saw you come to sit beside him, he immediately sat up straight, his cheeks a faint shade of pink you could barely notice.

"Hey…I guess you'll be my new partner in class, huh?"

You shrugged. "Guess so. The teacher seemed to have already decided she doesn't like me, though."

Mello's eyes narrowed. "Psh, she hasn't even met you. What's there to not like?"

You sat down nervously, ignoring the tightness in your chest. "Thanks…"

Matt ran in soon afterward, huffing out of breath. "Sorry…I'm late," he spat out. "But I had…," he paused to glare at you. "…some interferences."

You shook your head. _Well, if the new teacher doesn't like me, then she'll want to burn Matt alive_, you thought.

The teacher leaned back on her desk, and smiled.

"Alright, sweetie, just take a seat. Your new seat is over there, since the seating chart changed. I'm Ms. Kasseri; it's a pleasure to meet you, honey."

Matt took a seat across the room and gave thumbs up to you. You nearly facepalmed with frustration.

Mello poked you lightly. "Ah, let Matt have his moment. Nobody likes Matt anyway."

You gave a wary smile. "Well, if Matt wants an old, cranky teacher who likes little boys as a fangirl, then so be it," you said sarcastically.

Suddenly you saw a pair of wrinkled hands slam on your desk.

"I beg your pardon, young lady?! I heard _every _word!" Ms. Kasseri screeched. You flinched at the sound of her grating voice.

She smirked. "Well, you can bet I'll be taking off points on your ranking average for that." Turning around swiftly, she returned to the board to begin her lesson, leaving you to cuss under your breathe.

The class was long and torturous, and Ms. Kasseri was _definitely _not your favorite teacher. You lay your head down on your desk and sulked. Mello watched you from the corners of his eyes, and sighed every now and then. You were moments away from falling asleep when you heard the loud _smack _of a ruler against your desk.

Your head shot up to meet the angry gaze of Ms. Kasseri.

"Pay attention! Tell me, do you even know the answer to the problem on the board?!"

Your eyes traveled lazily to the board, which was covered in complicated problems. Your gaze traveled back to her, and smirked. "X-4 times the square root of 8 to the fourth power is equal to 9 times 4 divided by the square root of 8x to the fourth power."

Ms. Kasseri grimaced. "Pure _luck._ What about you show me all the work in your notebook done to solve this?"

You sank back into your seat, staring at the floor. "I didn't write anything. I don't need to since I have a photographic memory."

Ms. Kasseri let out a maniacal laugh. "I don't care. At this rate, your average will be so _low _that I'll sink you down to spots to 6th in ranking!"

Your gaze traveled to Mello, whose head sank forward so that his hair covered his face darkly. His knuckles turned white from clutching the edge of his desk so tightly.

"Me-"

Mello rose violently from his seat. He picked up his desk in a rage and tipped it over, barely missing Ms. Kasseri.

"Y-Young man! Sit down! Stop this right now!" she cried, fear dripping from each word.

"_Why the hell can't you leave her alone?!_" he yelled. His face was red with anger. "You god damned hag! All you do is pick and pick at her, and what's your goal? You expect her to break?!"

He took in a breathe. "Well, it's no wonder you're _Ms. _Kasseri, you bitter bitch. Playing favorites won't get you anywhere."

He spat at her shoes, and stormed out of the classroom.

The air in the room was so tense you felt as though you were suffocating. Ms. Kasseri stared at the doorway as though she had just seen a ghost. You felt almost numb from shock, unsure of what to do. Mello….

You felt appreciation for him standing up for you; you felt shock over how much he would go through in your defense.

But most of all, you felt adoration.

You subconsciously got up from your seat, moving very zombie-like out the doorway in pursuit of Mello. You ignored all sounds from the classroom buzz that slowly grew quieter as it faded behind you. You walked down the hall in a daze, your footsteps slow and echoing in the quiet halls. You came to a stop in front of Mello's door, and tapped on it lightly. There was no answer.

You sunk to the floor and sat hugging your knees. _Mello…_

_Matt smiled. "Silly, what's happening to you is that your heart skips a beat."_

_He leaned in, and almost in a whisper said:_

"_You're falling in love." _

Electricity shot through you ever so faintly. You blushed again, and slowly turned to check if the halls were empty.

You parted your lips slowly…maybe if you tried it you would figure it out…

You took in a deep breathe. "I….l-love M-Mello….," you said in a whisper.

You said it louder. "I love….M-Mello…..I love Mello."

You now said it without a stutter, and with more confidence.

"I love Mello. I love him…." A small smile made its way to your lips.

"Well it's about time."


	17. Act Seventeen: Closets

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Me: *searches google***

**Mello: What are you up to _now?_**

**Me: I'm looking for a male Mello cosplayer. They are _extremely _rare creatures.**

**Mello: ......**

**Matt: AHAHAHAAAA! GIRLS DRESS UP AS YOU, MELLO!**

**Me: You two, Matt. Cosplay is sort of like a universal gender. You can do as you please! It's the beauty of it.**

**Matt: ...They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, but I beg to differ. I _like _the boobies, but I don't find it cool to dress up as _me _and _have _boobies.**

**Me: Perv.**

**Matt: You control my actions! WHO'S THE PERV NOW?!**

**Me: Whatever. Mello, take it away! ^^**

**Mello: I'm offended right now.**

**Me: PLEASE?**

**Mello: *sighs* Misseh doesn't own Death Note or its characters. And by the way, the review button works. You should try it, I hear it will make her shut up. PLEASE TRY IT!**

**Me: -_-  
**

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Seventeen: Closets

_Shit!_

This was all you thought as you gasped to turn around, facing the person who had just caught you admitting your feelings for Mello. Your stomach sank at the thought that it would be Mello himself.

When you turned, however, it was only the Dr. Mr. Professor Love-Guru himself.

Matt smiled. "You're super dense. I can't believe it took you months to realize it, though. I guess you're only book smart." He leaned against the wall and slid down to sit next to you.

Your eyebrow twitched. "Tch, you scared me half to death, you know? Announce when you're around next time."

He thought for a moment. "Nahh, this way is more fun. Anyway, how does it feel to finally admit it?"

You sighed. "Well, at least now I realize it. But I'm not sure if it's a good thing. Love's always so…complicated, and I've always tried to just avoid it for the sake of simplicity."

Matt glared. "And just when I thought I made a breakthrough, you go right back to being dense. It's too late for that now, and if you try to block the feelings out, you'll either end up hating him or hating yourself because you'll regret your decision to not have at least tried."

You sighed. "Matt, why do you have to make sense _now _of all times? I liked you better clueless."

Matt laughed. "Mystery is my policy, so get used to it. By the way, if you were looking for Mello, he walked himself down to Roger's office. He might as well have, anyway; it's the inevitable."

He got up and offered you a hand. "Let's go see how Mello Yellow's doing."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mello sat with his elbows propped up on his knees, his face in his hands. His expression _screamed _boredom.

_Tch…damn girl…look what you're getting me into, _he thought. However, at the thought of you, his heart swelled.

_Psh...Damn you, Harmony. Damn you to hell…_

"Mello?"

The said boy's head rose up to the sound of your voice. "What are you doing here? You weren't supposed to follow me!"

You laughed. "Well, after that little performance, do you _really _think I'll just shrug it off and stay in my seat?"

You took the empty seat next to Mello in Roger's office. He eyed you carefully while you smiled earnestly. "Thanks, Mello, for back there."

He sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Roger won't care what defense I could possibly have, though, so you might as well leave. Don't waste your breathe."

"..Uh, I guess so. See you later then, Mels….," you said in a disappointed tone, walking away to your room.

Matt looked from the hallway that you left through to Mello and back again, scrunching up his nose confusedly. "Did you just…_dismiss _her? The girl you like? The girl who makes you blush and get all mushy? The girl whose pants you wanna get into and-"

"Matt, if you don't shut up, you're going to die a slow, painful death induced by me."

Matt smiled. "D'AWWW Look at you, little Mello Yellow, all grown up and acting all mature about his feelings-"

Mello got up from his seat.

"Alright, alright, I'm leaving!" Matt said and rushed off to find you.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You lay on your back vertically in your bed with your legs hanging off the end, devoid of thought, staring intently at your ceiling.

You barely noticed when Matt invited himself in and lay horizontally on his stomach on the bed beside you, his fingers drumming against your belly. He was halfway through his "drum solo" when you interrupted him.

"Matt, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm bored and you are my outlet to release my boredom in a drum-like manner."

You sighed. "Whatever…Leave me alone so I can think."

Matt frowned. "What are you thinking about?"

"About the fact that Mello probably hates me because I got him in trouble."

Matt laughed in your face. "Ha! If only you knew…"

You sat up now, an annoyed expression on your face. Matt poked your ribs. "Hey, I know what would make you feel better….a party!"

Shivers ran down your spine. "No, Matt, _please,_ no more _parties!"_

Matt grinned. "Too late! I'm throwing you a Pity Party, a sleepover in my dorm, and I expect you to be there by lights out when Roger's finished with his rounds. Sneak out and just bring a pillow."

You groaned. "But Matt-"

"Great, see you then!"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You stared at your clock. 10:10 flickered brightly again and again. _Huh, Roger should be done by now…_

You sighed, picking up your pillow. _I __**cannot **__believe I am friggin' doing this…_

You eased the door to your room open slowly, and tiptoed into the hallway. You took wide strides across the hall until you stood in front of Matt and Mello's dorm. You were about to open the door when you felt a tap on your shoulder.

"GAH!" you cried in surprise and flipped around, expecting to see Roger. Instead there stood Near in his regular pajama getup, a pillow just as white as his albino-self was in hand.

"N-Near?" you whispered. "Did Matt invite you, too?"

He nodded in disinterest, using his free hand to twirl his hair from habit. "Mello won't be happy."

You smiled. "Don't worry about Mello, I'll protect you," you joked.

You turned to face Mello and Matt's dorm door again, and knocked softly. Matt opened the door a crack so most of his silhouette lay hidden in the dark abyss. "Who goes there?"

"Uh, Matt, what are you-"

"Who is this 'Matt' you speak of? I am the almighty Door Keeper!"

"Matt, you know who I am-"

"-Of course I know! The almighty Door Keeper knows all!"

You grunted in frustration to his little game. "Matt, let me in or I'm leaving."

"What is the password, young pheasant?"

"Password? You never said there was a password."

"Well there is one now; I just made it up."

You sighed. "If you just made it up, how the hell am I supposed to know it?"

"…good point. But even so, only the greatest of warriors shall pass the almighty-"

"Matt, let her in before I throw your balls into a cornfield, dumbass. You're so annoying."

Matt whimpered at Mello's threat from within the room. "Ok, ok, I will; you ruin all the fun, Mello."

Matt opened the door fully, and Mello's face turned white as he saw Near standing behind you in the doorway.

"You…invited…._him?!?" _

Near took a step back to leave, but you held firm onto his sleeve. "Well, if he was invited, then he should be able to join in on the fun, too," you said defensively.

Mello scrunched his nose in disgust (which you found a bit cute…) and scoffed. "Whatever…But I'm not taking part in shit as long as he is here."

Matt let you inside and you gasped at how much the room had changed. Matt threw his arms out wide. "Ta-da! Do you like it? It took forever to arrange."

The entire room was basically one big mattress, with the walls and floor covered in layers of blankets, futons, mattresses, and occasional pillows. With every step you took into the room, you would bounce a little.

Matt grinned. "Pretty cool, huh? This way everyone can just lay down where they like and sleep, and we save space." He pointed to the cushioned walls. "Also, this room is also retard-safe, which is always good news for Mello."

Mello threw his chocolate bar at Matt, but he dodged it effectively. He continued to explain the intricacy of the room. "Plus, you can bang into anything and not get hurt!" Matt proceeded to give an example by running head-first into the wall repeatedly.

Mello snorted. "Now who's the retard…"

Matt plopped himself onto the plushy floor Indian-style with a grin. "Let's start the party!"

You and Near (who used you as a human shield) found a spot near the wall in the corner and made yourselves comfortable. There were many people in the room, most of which you didn't recognize; most likely they were from the upper teens to the twenties in ranking.

The room buzzed with conversation and laughter, but you kept mostly to yourself. You felt a tug on your shirt, and turned your head to address Near.

"Pardon me if I'm nosy, but these are Mello's pajamas." You looked down at your clothes and shrugged. "Oh yeah, Mello leant them to me, but I guess you could say I 'stole them'. They've sort of become my new regular PJs."

Near twirled a strand of his hair. "Why?"

"Uh…why do I wear them, you mean? Well…they're pretty loose and comfortable…." You pulled the shirt up to your eyes. _And they smell nice,_ you thought, but you wouldn't dare say that to Near.

Near lifted up a baggy sleeve from his own pjs. "I understand completely."

You giggled at his strange behavior. "You're pretty awkward at parties, aren't you, Near?"

He tilted his head. "I am?"

"Uh, yeah, you're not aware of that?"

"No."

"…Ok…?"

An awkward silence engulfed the air between the both of you, and you hugged your knees nervously. Near continued to stare at you, completely oblivious to social etiquette.

Matt suddenly cried out amidst the commotion. "OK, THIS IS GETTING BORING, SO IT'S PARTY GAME TIME!"

Many of the girls in the room squealed in happiness. Matt smiled and waggled his eyebrows in an attempt to act "sexy" in front of the girls, which made you laugh inwardly.

Matt made his voice low and gruff purposefully, yet another attempt to impress.

"Ok, how about we play a little game called _Seven Minutes in Heaven_…._ladies~"_

The girls cooed and gossiped amongst themselves.

One girl with black hair and bangs spoke up. "Ooh, but Mattie, that's no fair," she cooed. "The only boys are you, Mello, and Near, and that guy against the wall next to Near~"

Your eyebrow twitched as she addressed you as a boy. You were also slightly disturbed by Matt's choice of a game and the fact he would add _ladies_ to the end of every sentence when he spoke, making him sound like more of a pedophile than usual.

Matt walked over and grabbed her hand. "Well, I hope I'll do then. Excuse me…._ladies~"_

He walked into the closet with the girl in tow, leaving the rest of the room filled with girls to jump and squeal happily in excitement. You rolled your eyes at such fangirl-ish behavior.

The girls turned to you, noticing your annoyance. One of them addressed you. "If you keep that up, you won't get chosen for the closet at _all. _Us girls want a nice, supportive, and cutie guy like Mattie, not an annoyed meanie…like…like him!" She pointed at Mello, who bit into his chocolate viciously.

Your face twisted in disgust. "I-I _am _a girl!" The girl looked at you wide eyed.

"Really? Well, not in _those _clothes!" another girl piped up.

You groaned and hit your head against the wall in angst, thankful now for the padding.

Mello took a seat beside you. "Don't mind them," he said loudly. "Trust me, you are _way _more of a girl then all of them put together. While they'll be air headed whores on the street when they get older, you'll probably be a detective or some sort of genius, or something better."

The girls grimaced at Mello and turned around, frustrated. Mello smirked in triumph, and Near slunk further away at the sign of his presence.

Matt then came out of the closet, his hair ruffled, and goggles around his neck, his pjs wrinkled. He smiled widely with wild eyes, and the girl practically fell out of the closet behind him, her fellow companions catching her.

The clique hammered her with questions, to which she could only fan her flushed face.

Matt's eyes traveled to you, and a slow, devious smirk made its way to his lips.

_**Hell. No.**_

Sadly, Matt could not read your mind.

"Okay, next in the closet is…." Matt pretended to spin in circles and point randomly. But, as you predicted, his finger landed on you. "Harmony!" He shifted over a bit. "You too, Mello!"

"WHAT?!?" you both cried at the same time. Matt grabbed yours and Mello's wrists violently and shoved you into the closet, locking the door immediately.

"Ha-ha, have fun!" he said from outside.

Mello hit his shoulder hard repeatedly against the locked door. "MATT YOU PRICK! I SWEAR TO GOD THE MINUTE I GET OUT YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY AGAIN!"

Matt laughed. "Ok, but you still have about 6 minutes, 52 seconds and counting until that happens."

Mello continued to hit the door. "Resistance is futile!" Matt taunted from outside, and Mello crumpled to the floor of the closet in defeat.

You crouched down to his level. "Well….I guess we're stuck."

He pressed his cheek against the door, looking at you with one eye. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

You punched him playfully. "Oh shut up. You know, maybe those girls were right about you being so mean."

He turned to face you completely now, one eyebrow raised. "Oh really? That's always comforting."

You sat in silence for what seemed like eternity, the only sounds being that from both your breathing.

"Um…you know, maybe I could try…picking the lock," you offered quietly.

"You could try, though I doubt it."

You slowly crawled over to Mello's spot by the door, feeling your face grow hotter. You suddenly tripped over yourself, landing face first onto Mello's chest.

"Ah! S-Sorry!" You stuttered nervously. You attempted to get up, but a pair of hands pressed down on your back, almost commanding you to stay there.

"U-Uh….s-so what now?" you asked nervously. You lifted your chin to look at him, his blue eyes piercing through you. He whispered to you softly:

"I think this is the part of the game where we kiss…."


	18. Act Eighteen: Mortification

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**Mello: *blush***

**Me: Tee-hee, I know you loved that little cliffhanger last chapter, Mello Yellow ^^ **

**Mello: S-Shut up...**

**Matt: Mello's just a big teddy bear, aren't you, Mello?**

**Mello: *pistol-whips Matt***

**Matt: OW WTF?!?**

**Me: Guys! Enough already! Just do the disclaimer!**

**Matt: Mello's a big pussy but Misseh doesn't own Death Note or its characters! AHHHHHHHHH STOP MELLO!**

**Me: By the way, I love reviews. I really do :D  
**

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Eighteen: Mortification

_Wha-WHAT?!?_

This was the last thought that crossed your mind before it went blank.

You shut your eyes tight in preparation for what was to come, but to your surprise, your lips felt nothing and were left lonely.

Instead you felt Mello push his body weight against you so that your back was flat against the door.

He leaned down hesitantly and pressed his lips down on your cheek, so lightly that if it wasn't for the heat of his own face near yours, you would barely notice them there. It seemed all too sweet and innocent coming from the rough-and-tough Mello.

Suddenly, you felt the door give way behind you, bright light filling the dark closet.

You collapsed to the floor sending Mello down on top of you.

Matt gasped and grinned wildly. "Wow, when I sent you guys in there, I was certainly hoping for _something _to happen. But, I would never have expected it to go _this _well!"

The room exploded in a fit of laughter, and Mello was quick to lift most of his weight off you. His face was beet red and flushed, his eyes wide as he stared at the room of laughing people.

"N-No! I-I was just…I wasn't…..All I did was-"

Matt held up his hand. "No need to tell us, Mello Yellow. From what we heard, we know _full well _what you did in there, you sly dog!"

Mello's eyed widened so much that you feared they would pop out of their sockets at any moment. His eyed flickered down at you for what seemed like less than a second, searching your face for your reaction. Your face was just as red as his, but you were unable to say anything from the pure shock of the events that just unfolded.

Mello pressed his palms on the floor on each side of you and pushed up, hitting the ground running. He dashed out of the door, closing it with a loud _slam._

You continued to lay on the floor, dumbfounded. Matt got down on all fours and hovered over you with a smirk.

"You can thank me later for what I-"

Matt was interrupted by the sound of flesh on flesh that rang out in the room. One girl after another cried out in a domino effect.

Matt's head turned roughly to the side as an effect. All expression from his face drained away except for surprise as he placed his hand gingerly to the cheek where he was hit.

You had slapped him pretty hard, leaving a red handprint where your hand made contact.

Your face had a stone cold expression, and you stared up at Matt with narrowed eyes.

"Matt..y-you….Too far, Matt. Too far this time."

You got up briskly, brushing yourself off, and headed for your room. You weren't in the mood for sticking around at the party.

Matt watched you as you stormed out of the room and slammed the door as hard as Mello did.

It was the first time Matt had ever regretted pulling a prank.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You tugged and pulled at the seams of your pillowcase, causing the edges to become frayed and loose. Each tug counted for how many times you wanted to punch everyone in that room. You had lost count how many tugs you pulled an hour ago, though, and it just became a robotic and repetitive action.

You stared at the clock, which flickered 1:40. You weren't able to sleep no matter how hard you tried. Mello clouded your mind with worry.

You sighed and forced yourself to shut your eyes. You would have to deal with matters in the morning.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bright sunlit leaked through your window shades right onto your face. You groaned, covering your eyes with your palm and turning over to fall asleep again. You were about to doze off when you heard a timid knock on your door.

You rolled out of bed slowly, rubbing your eyes. Running your fingers through your hairs, you walked towards your door and opened it to your early morning visitor.

Matt looked down at the floor with shame. He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"……U-Umm…Mello kicked me out…." He shifted the sleeping bag and duffel sack in his arms.

You placed your hands on your hips. "Like that wasn't expected, Matt."

He frowned sorrowfully. "Y-Yeah. I know, and I'm sorry. I guess I did go too far on that one. Sorry if I ruined things."

You sighed and held up your hand. "One sorry is enough. What do you need?"

His face enlightened a bit. "A-All I need is a place to sleep. I'll keep myself busy for most of the day, so all I need is to stay here for the nights. I don't take up much space and-"

"It's fine, Matt."

He shut up immediately and smiled widely. "R-Really? Thanks, I owe you _big _time, especially after everything. You're too nice, Harmony."

You smiled half-heartedly. "Yeah, yeah, whatever…" You dragged yourself back to bed and lay down with a _thunk._

Matt threw his stuff on the floor and sat next to you. "You're worried about Mello, aren't you?" he said in a lower tone.

You sighed deeply. "It can't be helped. He probably won't want to speak to me again."

Your expression immediately saddened at the thought, and Matt's eyes became full of concern.

"You don't know that. If anything, it's my entire fault, and you shouldn't blame yourself."

You frowned and curled against your pillow. "No…I do blame myself. This whole event caused him nothing but embarrassment, but I still secretly was happy with it. I'm terrible…I should be regretful for ever going in the closet in the first place, but I'm not…."

Matt shook his head furiously. "No! That's not true! Look, let me try and fix this-"

"Matt, please just…just don't mess things up more than they are…."

Matt shut up immediately, a little hurt by your plea. Wordlessly, he got up and left.

However, he swore he wouldn't listen to you if it's the last thing he did. He had made a mess, and now he had to clean it up.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mello sat pretzel-style on the floor of his room, surrounded by books to study and with a piece of chocolate hanging halfway out of his mouth. His eyes darted from page to page, and he would read up to three books at a time.

Matt came in quietly, and knelt down next to the studious boy. "Whatcha dooooing?" Matt asked curiously.

Mello sighed. "In case you haven't noticed, it's December, and the Winter Finals are coming up. So, by that little summary, I'm obviously studying."

Matt observed the decent sized pile of books surrounding Mello.

"Hmm…You've always studied hard, but it seems you're studying a lot harder this time…"

Mello snorted. "Well, of course. If I want to beat that big-headed Near, then I have to."

Matt leaned in with a smirk. "Or perhaps you have to put in more effort since there are _other _things clouding your mind?"

Mello paused midway sentence in one of his books. "What are you implying?" he said slowly.

"….Harmony," Matt whispered, and Mello flinched.

"…Shut up, Matt, I have to study," Mello said sternly, changing the subject.

Matt sighed and lay back against his beanbag chair. "You know, if you keep ignoring her like this, bad things will happen."

Mello didn't reply and only kept his eyes glued to the pages of his books.

"I talked to her, you know, and she told me things. Like, oh I don't know, who she _likes."_

Mello's eyes snapped away from the book. "Spill it."

"She said…that she thought you were nice and all, and that she liked someone else though. She wasn't sure though since you were pretty cool, but now she's set. Your ignorance caused her to change her mind."

All the color from Mello's face drained away; his expression turned hurt and fearful with widened eyes. "Wha-What?"

Matt nodded wisely. "Yep, if there wasn't a better time to tell her how you feel, then it's now."

Mello shook his head slightly. "Matt, it's not that simple, dumbass."

Matt shrugged. "Alright, if you say so. But if you don't act now, you will lose any chance…and regret it."

With that, Matt pulled out his gameboy and began playing, slowly sinking into his own world. Mello sat silently on the floor, his books now closed.

Matt couldn't help but smile as Mello quietly made his way out of the room.

Mission Accomplished.


	19. Act Nineteen: Confession

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**Josephine_Falnor: **Aw, poor Matt. Given, I probably would've slapped him and left like that after what he did, but I still feel bad for him. He was just trying to help...and it was working too...

**n a g a s h i .no. k u r o: **...Matt is evil. But hey, in his position I'd do the same thing!! XDD

**Matt: *tears* I'M EVIL NOW AND EVERYONE ONLY PITIES ME! I HATE YOU! YOU WRETCHED AUTHOR!**

**Me: Oh, come on! You're just so easy to manipulate, Mattie ^^ **

**Matt: ALL OF YOU ARE...S-STUPID!**

**Mello: *claps* Oh yeah, that's an _ingenious _comeback.**

**Me: HEY, DON'T INSULT MY PRECIOUS REVIEWERS! I LOVE REVIEWS!**

**Matt: B-But....**

**Me: DO THE DISCLAIMER AS PUNISHMENT!**

**Matt: Misseh doesn't own Death Note or its characters....**

**Me: AND?**

**Matt: ...and the reviewers aren't stupid.....**

**Me: By the way, Matt, do me a little favor.... *whispers***

**Matt: A shout out?**

**Me: Yes!**

**Matt: Um, Okay.... Hey, RavenFire20, I love you too? Matt fans FTW?**

**Me: *nods* Good boy! Thank you reviewers!  
**

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Nineteen: Confession

Mello took a deep breathe as he stood outside your door, trembling. His hand stayed glued on the doorknob, but it seemed as though he didn't have the strength to turn it.

Finally, after much doubt and fear, he turned the doorknob quickly and barged into your room.

There was no turning back now.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When Mello suddenly barged into your room, you shot upwards to a sitting position from lying on your bed. You feared the worst, and prepared yourself for lots of yelling and words of hatred.

Instead however, Mello stood quietly next to your bed, staring at the empty seat next to you. "Can I sit?" he asked nervously, and you nodded.

"I, uh, want to…talk."

You now sat cross-legged, your hands fumbling with the frayed edges of your shirt in your lap. You stared at the bed sheets, afraid to look at his expression. "Talk about what?"

"Well, it's not like I've really spoken to you these days, so be happy I'm here," he shot back, and you flinched.

Mello sighed. "I-I didn't mean that, just…just listen, ok?"

You nodded, but you were sure to keep your head down in silence. Suddenly, you felt the bed shift as Mello leaned forward. He gently lifted his hand to your face and lifted your chin to look at him.

You gasped a little at his movements, and time seemed to freeze around you.

"H-Harmony," he said quietly.

"Harmony, I-I l-love you!" he said quickly, squeezing his eyes shut.

You felt your heart flutter, and leaned forward. As Mello felt you move from under the touch of his fingertips, he opened his eyes cautiously. You wrapped your arms around his middle and nuzzled your face into his shirt.

"Aww, Mello, you're so sweet when you want to be. Now see? That wasn't so hard!"

Mello sat there dumbfounded as his arms fell limp at his sides. "You _figured _it _out _but you _still _didn't say anything about it?!"

"Oh shut up," you said, your voice muffled. "Be happy."

"Tch…I hate you."

"I love you too, Mello."


	20. Act Twenty: Snow

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**Mello: ......**

**Me: *fangirl squeal* MELLO LAST CHAPTER YOU WERE SOOOO SWEET! AWWWWW!!!!**

**Matt: "Oh Harmony, how I love you so!" BWAHAHAA HOW GAY WAS THAT?!?! LOLOL!!!**

**Mello: Matt, you would still like to have balls by the end of the day, right?**

**Matt: S-Shutting up now....**

**Near: Misseh does not own Death Note or its characters.**

**Me: WTF WHERE'D YOU COME FROM?  
**

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Twenty: Snow

Only Mello would be angry at someone for telling him that they loved him.

"Oh come _on, _Mello!" you complained as tailed him in the halls. It was the day after his little confession, and you followed him to the cafeteria for breakfast.

"You could've saved me a _lot _of torture if you just told me yourself. You're selfish," he said through gritted teeth.

You pouted, and Matt put his arm around your shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry, Harmony, you can cry on _my _shoulder when you need to."

Mello stopped dead in his tracks. He turned his head almost all 360 degrees frighteningly. "I'm sorry, what did you say Matt the soon-to-be dickless?"

Matt quickly retracted his arm. "Absolutely nothing."

"I thought so," Mello barked. He snapped his fingers and motioned you to walk beside him, but you stayed put.

"First of all, I have a name, and you address me by it. I know you're the possessive type, Mello, but I am not your _property."_

You put your hands on your hips and smiled triumphantly.

Mello smirked and walked over slowly. He placed his hands on your hips and lifted you up; you had never imagined him to be strong enough.

"M-Mello! Put me down!" you protested as he practically tossed you over his shoulder.

"Never. Besides, if you keep walking this slowly, we'll never make it to breakfast."

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mello set his tray down next to you at the table as Matt took the seat across from you.

You poked at your mushy oatmeal with boredom, sighing every five minutes.

Mello took his spoon and scooped up some of your oatmeal, flicking it at your face.

You jumped back, annoyed. "Ew, it's all over my face! Thanks a lot," you groaned, picking up your napkin.

Mello grabbed your wrist. "No need for napkins when I'm here…" he said in a low tone.

"Want me to _lick _it off?"

Your eyes narrowed to slits. "No. According to human anatomy, your tongue is not made of paper. And, if it's not a napkin, then I won't use it to clean my face."

Mello released your wrist with a glare. "You're boring," he whined.

Suddenly, the screeching sound of the intercom filled the room. Everyone became quiet as Roger spoke.

"Children…it has been decided that classes will be cancelled today due to the apparent conditions outside. Enjoy the snow…."

With that, the intercom screeched off, and the cafeteria erupted with cheers.

You smiled widely and nearly flew up out of your seat. Slamming your palms down on the table, you shouted in excitement, "Did you hear that?! It's SNOWING!"

Matt grinned. "You're sure excited."

"Of course I am! There are no more classes, and it's a snow day. Let's get our asses outside as quickly as possible!"

Mello put his chin in his palm with boredom. "No. I don't like the cold, and I hate snow."

Matt laughed. "Why? Does all that white remind you of someone?"

Mello twitched, and Matt continued teasing. "I bet it's like Near exploded, and little pieces of him are sprinkled all over the ground, trees, a building….Near is EVERYWHERE, Mello."

Matt laughed maniacally, and Mello's hands tightened into fists. You punched Matt in the shoulder, frustrated. "Thanks a lot, now he has even _less_ of a reason to want to go outside!"

You sighed in defeat, and then felt a dark presence behind you. You flipped around and saw none other than Near standing behind you.

"Excuse me, but I couldn't help but overhear you. Especially about the exploding part…," he mumbled. "Miss Harmony, if you like, I will go outside with you."

Mello's head shot upward. "What?!" His reaction was ignored as Matt walked circles around Near, as though he were examining him.

"Near, are you sure it's ok for you to go outside? I mean, if you were to get lost, we may never find you."

"Matt, you are so immature. I mean, enough with the albino jokes, seriously."

You now addressed Near with a smile. "Of course I'll go outside with you. Thanks for the offer!"

You grabbed the boy by a baggy sleeve and tugged him out of the cafeteria towards the foyer, where all jackets and coats were kept. You smirked to yourself as the sounds of two other pairs of feet came chasing after you.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You stared blankly at the mountain of jackets, scarves, and gloves that remained after a mob of children attacked the once-organized massive closet. You rolled up your sleeves and got to work, digging deep in the pile for some decent winter wear.

Mello wore a large black overcoat, and he bent down to lace up a pair of knee-length boots. Matt struggled to close the buttons on one of his coats, and eventually grew frustrated to where he threw it down on the floor. He stepped on it repeatedly with anger, and jumped into the pile of clothes in search of a new jacket.

He emerged with a beige vest whose edges were laced with white fur. He slipped it on easily and smiled, turning and walking as though he were on the runway.

"I think I could work with this look, don't you?"

You laughed and turned to Near, who chose none other than an all white jacket and blue rain boots. You couldn't help but think how cute it was.

"Here, I'll help you with your scarf!" You wrapped a long scarf with kittens on them around his neck, twirling him in circles. When you were done, only his eyes were visible from the large wrapping that covered most of his neck and face.

"CUTE!" you shouted, throwing your arms in the air. Mello walked behind you and wrapped his arms around your middle.

"Mine," he hissed at Near, who stood there numbly.

You wiggled out of his grasp and ran towards the door, thrashing it open. The icy breeze hit you immediately, and you ran out to embrace the winter wonderland that waited for you just outside the doors.


	21. Act TwentyOne: Forever

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**Mello: Snow chapters are so cliche. You suck.**

**Me: No they aren't! You just don't like the cold.**

**Mello: Whatever.**

**Me: Fine...but snow chapters means snuggling with Har-mon-yyyyy xD**

**Mello: .......m-maybe they're okay......**

**Me: ^^**

**Mello: Um....Misseh doesn't own Death Note or its characters. By the way, where is Matt?**

**Me: I locked him in the basement ^^**

**Mello: o.o  
**

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Twenty-One: Forever

Running out into the snow may not have been such a great idea without testing how deep it was first.

You jumped quickly off of the steps to Wammy's and into the snow. You gasped as you plunged deep into the fluffy white sheet that covered the ground, the snow reaching above your knees. Stumbling, you fell forward and flat on your face.

Mello slowly trekked his way through the snow and grabbed your shoulders. He tugged you up and got you back and in balance on your feet again.

"Stupid," he said, wiping snow off of your face. "You should try _thinking _before you jump, or before anything, for that matter."

You could only grin like an idiot as your face turned red from the cold. "I don't mind. It's all part of the experience, Me-"

You were interrupted by a handful of snow thrown at your face.

"SNOWBALL FIGHT!" Matt shouted, and many other children frolicking in the snow immediately ducked for cover.

Mello bent down and grabbed a handful of snow in his palm, and got to work patting it together. He glared at you from the corners of his eyes.

"Well? Do you _want _to get hit in the face again, or are you going to help with ammunition?" he stated, acting as though he were in the middle of a frantic war.

You took a seat in the snow and grabbed two handfuls of snow at a time, packing and then setting them in a pile beside Mello's feet. Mello was like a human machine gun, thrusting snowballs at everything that moved.

When you glanced up to see the white bundle that was Near coming carefully down the steps, you knew the inevitable was about to happen.

Mello smirked evilly, his canines gleaming. "Got you," he whispered, and took aim.

With all his might, he threw the snowball over two yards, and successfully his target.

Near stood rigid with a blank expression, the snow up to his waist due to his short stature.

He stood motionlessly for so long that you began to think that perhaps the throw caused some brain damage.

"Uh, Near?" you shouted. "Are you alri-"

Out of nowhere, Near faceplanted into the snow, landing with a soft _thud._

Matt jumped out from behind a tree. "ALBINO DOWN! ALBINO DOWN!" he shouted.

"Near, don't be a cheater! It's no fair! You have camouflage!"

You rolled your eyes and trudged through the snow to get to Near, making sure to keep an eye on the spot he fell. When you reached him, he still lay unmoving in the snow.

You grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him up to stand again. He stared at you wide-eyed, his cheeks an extremely bright red. It was the most color you've ever seen on Near.

"Near, are you ok?"

He sneezed in response.

"Great, now you're gonna catch a cold.

You wrapped your arm around his shoulder and lead him towards the steps.

"I think it's time we headed inside, guys!" you called out to your group.

Mello bulldozed his way through the snow, jealous of Near's position. Matt hopped towards the steps, making a trail of holes wherever he landed.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You sighed, sitting on the window seat of the playroom. Near was wrapped in multiple blankets, and would sneeze quietly every now and then. This and the sounds from Matt's video game were the only noises in the room.

Mello took a seat next to you on the window seat, hot chocolate in hand. You eyed his warm, sweet drink with longing, and whimpered in plea for a taste.

"No," he said bluntly. "Make your own."

"But all I want is a taste, Mellooooo!" you whined. He shook his head and took another teasing sip from his cup. "Too bad."

You frowned in annoyance. "Don't tell me this is some sort of "revenge" for helping Near. You have _got _to be kidding me!"

He smirked and took another sip. "The only way you're getting a sip is through my mouth, and as punishment, I won't even give you the privilege of that. So, sucks to be you!"

"Privilege?"

Mello grimaced. "Whatever. Why don't you just go to Near since you like him so much?"

_Sneeze._

You smiled when a mischievous plan popped into your head. "But I don't _want _to go to Near. I want to stay here with you," you cooed seductively.

Mello shrugged. "I don't blame you."

You groaned inwardly, but tried as hard as you could to show no reaction.

Moving slowly, painfully slowly by Mello's view, you scooted closer to him and rested your head on his chest.

"You know, Mello…," you said softly, toying with the fabric of his shirt. "You're really warm…and soft…."

Mello flinched under your touch in embarrassment. "Uh….um….," he stuttered, unable to speak.

You looked up at him innocently. "What's the matter, my _Marshmellow?"_

A cup was shoved in your face, the edge pressed against your lips.

"….You win….," Mello sighed in defeat.

You accepted your prize happily, drinking the final drops of the contents in the cup.

You rested your head back against his chest, staring out the window at the continuously falling snow. Your head bobbed up and down in unison with the rise and fall of his breathing chest.

"…Hey, Mello?"

"Yeah?"

You smiled, and leaned towards the glass, breathing on it so it created an area of fog. Using your finger, you began to write in the foggy area:

_Do you really love me? Marshmellow?_

You smiled at him awkwardly, circling the word 'Marshmellow' with a heart.

Mello's face became flushed, but he managed to grin right back. Leaning towards the glass, he breathed on it so that he created his own fog area next to yours.

Using his finger, he drew an arrow from 'Marshmellow' in the heart to his fog area and wrote:

_& Harmony._

It took you a moment before you were able to comprehend what he meant. _Mello…and Harmony._

You grinned like an idiot when you finally got it, but he laughed at you. "A little late, don't you think?"

"Shut up."

"Never."

"So you do love me?"

"Forever."

You smiled and leaned back into him, drifting slowly into blissful sleep.

However, you were completely unaware that forever never really lasts that long.


	22. Act TwentyTwo: Choice

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**Me: Okay, guys, this disclaimer is going to be a little tricky.**

**Matt: Why?**

**Me: Because this chapter contains actual dialogue from the anime.**

**Mello: I sounded thirty when I was fourteen in the english dub of the anime.....**

**Matt: Psh, at least you didn't have only _two _friggin' lines and then you were killed!**

**Mello: Whatever...**

**Me: Guys, please?**

**Mello: *sighs* Misseh does not own Death Note, its characters, or the dialogue from the anime contained in this chapter.**

**Matt: Hehe....Mello can time travel with his vocal cords....**

**Me: '-_-  
**

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Twenty-Two: Choice

When you woke up in the morning, you found yourself in Mello and Matt's room.

Sitting up, you looked around to see where everyone was. Matt was passed out in his bean bag chair, and Mello was curled in a tight ball at the foot of your bed, sleeping deeply.

You reached over and ran your fingers through his hair, smiling at how impossibly sweet and defenseless he looked asleep.

Matt began to stir in his sleep, rolling off the beanbag chair onto the floor. "Nn…Harmoonie, are joo awake?" he said groggily.

"Yes…," you said, only paying half of your attention to him. You were too intrigued in Mello's sleeping complexion laying peacefully before you.

"Ew, can't you do that in private?" Matt whined. You stuck out your tongue at him. "You're just jealous 'cuz no girl does that to _you."_

Matt snorted and crawled over to Mello. He began poking him in the ribs.

"Ufufufuuuu….I am the flesh-eating worm, and I am eating you right now. Your insides are my DINNERRR," Matt whispered in Mello's ear.

"GAHH!" Mello screamed, shooting upward. His face was inches away from yours.

"GAHHHH!" he screamed again, rolling onto the floor and landing on top of Matt.

"GWAHHHHHHHHH!" he screeched, throwing himself onto the beanbag chair.

Matt grabbed his shoulders firmly, and smacked him repeatedly. "STOP. IT. NOW!"

Mello panted heavily, but calmed down. You burst out laughing.

"HA! Mello, you're so _random _sometimes!" Mello groaned and pulled out a chocolate bar from somewhere unknown. He always seemed to have an unlimited supply.

"Mello Yellow, you shouldn't have screamed when you came close to Harmony. When in that situation, you move _closer_. You don't throw yourself on the floor on top of _another dude._"

"Unless you swing to _that _side of the fence, Mello," you said teasingly. Mello lashed out at you angrily, yanking you by the shirt collar. "You of all people should know that isn't funny!"

You both barked back and forth until Matt interrupted.

"Oh, would you both shut up and just _kiss _already!"

The next thing you knew Matt had put one hand behind each of your heads and smashed them together. You barely had time for reaction as Mello's lips crashed into yours, a muffled cry erupting from both of you.

However, eventually each of you eased into the kiss, relaxing more. Both your arms wrapped around his middle, and his hand became fisted in your hair, his fingers tangling in strands of it, weaving through it masterfully.

The moment was ruined by a gagging sound from the back of the room.

"I didn't say _rape_ each other," Matt said in a disgusted tone.

Mello pulled away from you and faced Matt. "SHUT UP, MATT!" He chased him around the room in circles until you finally put out a foot and tripped the trouble-making redhead. Matt faceplanted into the carpet, his arms flailing.

Mello turned to you, his face reddened. His fingers brushed over his lips as though they were new to him. "Um…that's the first time….I ever, um, you know….kissed a girl." He rubbed his thumbs together nervously as though what he spoke of was absolute taboo. "D-Did I….Did I do it right?"

You giggled at his naïve question, and he looked as though he had been insulted. "A-Are you laughing at me?!"

You smiled. "Nah, I'm just thinking that it's pretty dumb to ask _me _if you did it right. It's like asking someone who can't swim to teach you how to. It's my first, too….how should I know?"

Mello's anger faded. "O-Oh….well, I mean, did it at least feel….?"

You laughed. "I don't know what the 'criteria' is for kisses, but as far as I know, it felt like you did it right."

"N00bs."

"SHUT UP MATT!"

You sat there in amusement, watching the boys lash out at each other, when suddenly you heard a knock at the door.

Mello brushed himself off and went to answer, only to find Roger standing there, his expression torn and haggard.

"Roger? What are you-?"

"Mello, please come with me to my office…"

Mello nodded hesitantly, and opened the door wider. You saw that Near was already standing at Roger's side, a puzzle in hand. Mello looked back a final time to see you stare back at him with concern.

"Don't worry. I'll be back later."

He didn't know it then, but he lied.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"What was that? Roger, what did you just say?!" Mello demanded.

Roger looked down on his desk with a forlorn expression.

"…I am afraid L is dead."

Mello gasped, unbelieving of the news he had just heard.

"He's…dead? But…But how?!" Mello slammed his palms on Roger's desk, yelling at the old man. "W-Was it Kira? Did Kira kill him?!"

While Mello had been living at Wammy's, he had always known about the whole commotion happening in the world outside of the orphanage. He was aware of L's activity in Japan, and how he was working with the Japanese Police Force to capture a mass murderer killing off the world's criminals at an alarming rate. Kira's actions were debatable; many claimed he was cleansing the world, and that he was a new "god". But if L was against him, so was Mello. However, never would he have thought that Kira would kill off the great detective himself.

"C'mon Roger, you've got to tell me!" Mello said in a panic.

"….probably…"

Mello lashed out in anger, grabbing the old man by his shoulders and shaking him. "But he promised me he would find Kira and execute him, and now you're telling me…that he's been killed?!"

"M-Mello!" Roger pleaded, motioning for the panicking boy to calm down. Behind them, Near picked up the puzzle he had been quietly working on and spilled it to the floor, causing Roger and Mello to stare at him.

"If you can't win the game….if you can't solve the puzzle….then you're just a loser."

_That high and mighty asshole! _Mello thought. _Did he just really call __**L **__a loser?!_

Mello pushed thoughts of anger away. There were much more important things to be thinking about.

Mello slammed his fist down on Roger's desk again. "So, which of us did L pick? Me or Near?" Mello waited for a response wide-eyed, fearful of the answer.

Roger sighed. "He hadn't chosen yet. And now that he's gone, I'm afraid he won't be able to."

_Wha-What?_

Mello stepped back, taking in a sharp breathe.

"Mello…listen. You too, Near. Can't the two of you work together?" Roger asked.

Mello gasped at the thought. "Alright, sounds good," Near said with disinterest.

Mello's face became contorted with disgust. "It'll never work, Roger," Mello said, his voice trembling in an attempt to hold in how badly he wanted to scream out.

"We can't do this together. You know I _don't _get along with Near. We've always competed against each other….always…"

A tense silence filled the room, and no sound was made except for the howling wind heard just outside one of the windows in Roger's office.

Mello clenched his fists. _Fine. If this is how it's going to have to be…_

"You know what?" Mello said, breaking the silence. "It's fine. Near should be the one to succeed L. He's not like me, he never gets emotional. He just uses his head, like it's a game or a puzzle…"

Mello grinded his teeth together. "And as for me, I'm _leaving _this institution." Mello spun on his heels and walked away from Roger's desk, leaving the room.

Roger got up from his seat. "Wait-Mello!"

"Don't waste your breathe," Mello said bitterly. "I'm almost 15 years old."

"It's time I started living my _own _life."

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mello's entrance back into the room that you and Matt had been waiting in was so rash, so fierce that it caught you by surprise. You watched as he threw open the drawer where he kept his clothes, and grabbed them by the fistfuls.

"M-Mello, where are you going? What happened?"

Mello's expression was cold and angry. He stuffed his clothes into a duffel bag without a word.

"Mello Yell-"

"_Save it, _Matt," he said sternly. You curled your fingers gently around Mello's wrists, and he stopped packing.

"……."

"Mello, what happened?" you repeated. "Where are you going?" For some reason, you had a premonition of something terrible, and you were on the brink of tears.

"…..L is dead."

"WHAT?!" you and Matt screamed at the same time. "How can he- no! He can't be dead! He's _L!"_ you protested.

"Well apparently, even the world's greatest can hit rock bottom," Mello said angrily. "And now Near is going to be his _goddamn _successor. I'm _leaving."_

Mello flinched in surprise as one of your many tears fell in his palm. Your grip around his wrist tightened. "N-_No!"_

Matt walked over to Mello, grabbing him by the shirt collar. _"What do you think you're doing?!" _he yelled. Tears were forming in his own eyes, from fear of losing his best friend.

"Let go, Matt," Mello said coldly, slapping his hand away. You grabbed the bottom of Mello's shirt and buried your face in it, bawling. "Then let me come with you!" you screamed into the fabric.

Painfully, Mello pulled away from you, grabbing his things.

"I'm sorry. But I've made a choice. If I can't win conventionally, then I'm doing things my own way. And if in doing this I'm on a path to destruction, I don't want to take anyone down with me."

Mello leaned down and swiftly kissed you on the cheek. He walked off, slamming the door behind him.

You sat there with Matt, and only God knows how long. You cried into his shirt until you fell asleep from exhaustion.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You woke up in the middle of the night in time to see a dark figure slink its way through Mello and Matt's room. Using a rope made out of bed sheets, the figure made its way out of the window. You saw the bright screen of a gameboy gleam through the person's pocket.

With a final pull out the window, Matt was gone.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You were amazed that you still woke up in the morning. With how much tears were spilled yesterday, it was flabbergasting that you didn't fall ill to dehydration.

You rolled over in Mello's bed, lying there without the strength to get up. You felt so abandoned, alone.

There was a subtle knock on the door, and a young man in uniform came in. When he saw you, he was taken back.

"O-oh, I'm sorry. I was told that no one lived here any longer and that I was to clean out the room-"

"_Get out!!" _you hissed, and he immediately ran off, shutting the door behind him.

Another knock soon followed his, and you yelled out again. "I said _get out,_ you friggin' retard!"

Near entered the room quietly, twirling his hair. He knelt by the bedside, staring into your sorrowful face.

"What do _you _want?" you barked. He twirled his hair and stared at you, saying nothing.

"What are you? Here to gloat?!" you yelled, and he shook his head.

"I'm here as comfort. I know what it's like to feel terribly lonely. I thought you would like to have someone."

"Yes, but not _you,_" you spat angrily. Near pulled at the threads of the carpet, still saying nothing.

"Why don't you just _go?"_

"Oh, I will be leaving, pretty soon. I have to get started on this case as soon as possible," he said. Your heart sank again, as if it wasn't low enough already.

"W-When will you be leaving?" you asked sadly.

"Sometime in March, I will be leaving for the United States to speak with the president. I hope to get assistance from the United States in this Kira case."

"The president of the United States?" you said in slight amazement, and he nodded.

"However, until then, I am at your disposal." You both sat in silence, thinking to yourselves.

You finally spoke up after five minutes.

"Near?"

"Yes?"

"I need….a hug….," you said, embarrassed of your request.

"Oh," Near said, unsure of what else to say.

"Um…is that a yes?"

"If it will make you feel better, then I suppose…"

You wrapped your arms around the small boy, and he sat there awkwardly, turning stiff as a board. He didn't know what to do in this situation. His arms lifted up to try and hug you back, but they just fell limply at his sides again.

"Near?"

"Yes?"

"You don't get hugged very often, do you?"

"No."

"I see," you said, pulling away to discontinue any further awkwardness.

"Would you care to air condition your feelings?" Near asked.

"Uh…I'm sorry, what?!"

"Air condition your feelings. As in talk to me about it to feel better."

"Near, do you mean _vent _my feelings?"

"Oh, yes, I think that's it."

You rolled around on the floor laughing, unable to control yourself. Near simply stared at you as you clutched your sides. "Nice, one Near!" you said sarcastically, and he twirled his hair, oblivious to his mistake. "I do not see how this is humorous."

You wiped tears from your eyes from laughing so hard. "It is, trust me, Near."

Near patted your back when you began wheezing from a shortness of breathe. "Well, even though it was done subconsciously, I seemed to have succeeded in making you smile. Mello…is not a bad person. He is just careless sometimes, and he thinks that he doesn't need the help from the people who love him. I do not think you should let this occurrence change your great infatuation for him, however."

You smile earnestly at Near, and hugged him once more. "Thanks. I think I can manage now….You're a good friend, Near. A little antisocial, but a good friend."

You smiled at the boy who saved you from the breaking point.

_If Mello and Matt left, and Near is, too, then I guess I'll have to find the strength to move on myself._


	23. Act TwentyThree: Matt

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Me: *proud tears***

**Mello: What _now?_**

**Me: The reviews for my stories....I'm so flattered..... xD**

**Mello: Yeah....speaking of which, I've been wondering if anyone reads these author's notes. It's just a disclaimer.**

**Me: I'm horrified! Of _course _they do! Right...?**

**Matt: You should test it!**

**Me: Umm, okay. If you read this, write a review for this chapter, and start the review with "MUSHROOMS". ^^**

**Mello: Of course, shrooms. What you're consistently high on.**

**Me: -_- Do the disclaimer.**

**Matt: Misseh owns nothing!**

**Me: Oh, and another shout out to RavenFire40: I NEVER get tired of your reviews! xD AND I SAW THE TREND! I SAW IT! WOOOOOOO! xD**

**Mello: Retard....  
**

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Twenty-Three: Matt

Three years.

This is how much time had passed since the day Mello and Matt left the orphanage. You, too, decided not to stick around and left a week later. From then on, Near had always supported you in any way he could, despite how busy he always seemed to be with the Kira case.

Kira's reign had just begun to take its toll when you entered the cruel world that lay outside the orphanage. Sure, crime was the lowest it had ever been, but people became more savage and threatening. Many lived in fear of each moment, never knowing if it would be their last, or the next second they would die of a heart attack.

When you left the orphanage, you decided to move to L.A., where Near set up an apartment for you. You found a job at a convenience store, and your life had retained somewhat of a normalcy.

But there was always a hole in your heart that only Mello could fill.

Of course, when you first came to the US, the first item on your To-Do list was to locate Mello and Matt. You heard a rumor from Near that Mello may have located in the city, and you searched for weeks on end all throughout L.A. However, it seemed no one had heard of or seen such a person. It was as if Mello and Matt left the orphanage that day and vanished into thin air.

It was from then on that sadness grew into hate. You feared this would happen, but once it began, there was no stopping it. You hated Mello for leaving; you hated Matt for abandoning you when you needed him most. Hell, you even hated Near sometimes, blaming him for causing it all.

You tried moving on, you even joined some ridiculous online dating services, but you always blew them off. A part of you couldn't find the guts to do it, and mostly you only found comfort in the friends you had at work.

It was a tough world you lived in, but you always told yourself that this was what happened when you let yourself fall in love.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You sighed as you balanced the heavy boxes in your hand, one stacked upon the other. You made it your mission to get them to the display case at the back of the counter without help. If you worked hard enough, maybe your boss would be courteous enough to give you a raise.

"Melody, stop straining yourself! If you keep up at this, you'll hurt yourself," one of your work pals said.

Melody was one of the many aliases you kept to make a sort of shield against Kira. Harmony had always been your first and true alias, but the more pennames you had, the more elusive you could be from the murderer's hand of killing.

"Oh please, it's fine! I can handle myself," you said, brushing her warning aside. You shifted the tower of boxes in your arms, leaning a little backwards to keep them in balance. _Damn Wii games, always coming in by the hundreds and so heavily packed in these boxes…_

You were halfway to the display case when you bumped into someone hard, sending you stumbling forward. The boxes where just about to come flying out of your hands when you felt them come right back into your arms, as though by magic.

_What the-_

You peered around the tower slightly to see a pair of arms hugging it from the opposite side. Your savior's face was blocked by the boxes, but you were still equally as thankful.

"Are you ok?" a male voice asked.

"Y-Yeah, thanks to you. I appreciate the help," you said, your arms relieved of some of the weight from the boxes. The person then pulled on the tower, taking all of the boxes' weight into his arms. "Oh, please don't! You don't have to, it's my job anyway," you protested, following the figure to the counter where he set it down.

An arm reached to the top of the tower, opening one of the boxes. It pulled out a game, and a small "Yes!" of triumph was heard from behind the tower. Your savior finally stepped out from behind the boxes, a smile plastered on his face.

"No trouble. Besides, I wanted a game anyway."

You stood frozen, staring at the male. He wore a furry vest with a striped shirt underneath, and leather gloves covering up to his elbows. Jeans and combat boots were worn from the waist down, and goggles covered his eyes. His head was covered in ruby-red hair.

"M…Ma-Ma…..Maaa….," you stumbled over the words, unable to form 'Matt' on your lips. You were so extremely shocked, after all these years. _He barely changed, but at the same time, he seems so...different._

"P-P-P-Poker face P-P-Poker face!" he sang out of nowhere. You tilted your head in confusion, and he smiled awkwardly back at you. "Um, you were singing the song right? You know, "M-M-M-Mah," and then it's "P-P-P-Poker face…and…yeah," his voice trailed off.

You gleamed at him in excitement, not caring at how many people now stared at the both of you. _It's still the same Matt. But…does he not recognize me?_

Matt stared at you as you stood there just smiling, and he smiled politely back. "Um, yeah…Hey, do you think I could pay for this?" He held up the Wii game in his hand.

"Oh…right," you said, still a little disappointed in how oblivious he was to your identity.

You began the paying process and took your sweet time, starved for time with your old friend. Matt leaned on the counter, tapping his fingers against the glass. His eyes wandered from the display case and then back to you.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" he said suddenly, and you froze. "Um, s-sure I guess."

_Does he finally..?!_

"Do you think I could get a pack of cigarettes with that game? Sorry for the last-minute add on."

You facepalmed inwardly.

"Yeah, no problem," you said slowly, reaching under the counter. You pulled out a pack of nicotine-free quitters cigarettes as punishment for his stupidity, and lay them on the counter in front of him.

"That'll be $2.50 extra."

Matt picked up the pack and turned it over again and again in his hands. "Um…these are nicotine free. I get if you're trying to send a message but, you know, a guy needs his fix sometimes…"

You forced yourself to laugh and smacked your head lightly. "Woops, I'm such an idiot!"

Matt beamed. "Nah, you just need to be careful, is all. Besides, your cuteness makes up for it." He winked at you flirtatiously.

_Dear God, now he's flirting,_ you thought.

"Tee-hee, well that's funny, because I could've said the same about you," you said with a fake giggle. You decided to play along with this ridiculous game of Guess-Who.

You took out a real box of cigarettes and wrote your number on the back in Sharpie. Matt took the box with a smile.

"Thanks, I'll be sure to use both," he said in a smooth-talking voice.

He waved goodbye while taking the bag of goodies with him. You wished you could see the look on his face when he got home and saw the number you gave him was the same one you had for L's cell phone that you received back in Wammy's. You kept it as a precious and useful keepsake since then, and you crossed your fingers that Matt would get a clue.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You lie on your bed, an ice-cream bowl in hand, flipping through the channels lazily as your "relaxation" evening finally began. Your favorite show was about to start when you heard the familiar ring from your cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey there. It's me, the Poker Face-Guy from the store. You know, I bought the Wii game and cigs and you wrote your number…?"

"Matt, cut the crap."

"M-Matt?! How did you-"

"You know full well who this is. You haven't changed a bit, Mattie."

"H-H-HARMONY?!? ADWERAJKNFWNCJINC FUUUUUUU-"


	24. Act TwentyFour: Reuniting

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Mello: Oh wow, Matt, you're stupid.**

**Matt: H-How was I supposed to know it was the reader? It's been three years and I have a long term memory loss problem!**

**Me: Not to forget that you were flirting with the reader, Matt. I'm ashamed!**

**Mello: *smirks evilly* I'm sorry, I didn't catch that...What did you do, Matt?**

**Matt: WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Scary!!!**

**Me: Well, putting that aside, the disclaimer still needs to be done.**

**Matt and Mello: We need a vacation.**

**Me: WHAT?! You're fictional characters! _Anime _characters, at that! You defy gravity and have endless energy!**

**Matt and Mello: Find someone else.**

**Me: Fineeee *teleports new character***

**Matsuda: FRUIT CUPS?! WTF WHERE AM I?!?**

**Mello: Dear god, someone just as dumb as her!**

**Me and Matsuda: MISSEH OWNS NOTHING! SPLEEEE ^^  
**

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Twenty-Four: Reuniting

You tapped your foot impatiently, leaning against the wall of your apartment building. You finally saw a bright red car drive up to your building, the tires screeching as it braked to a sudden halt. Matt nearly fell out of the car and came running towards you, catching you in a tackle-hug.

"HARMONYYYYY," he cried, squeezing the life out of you. "I'M SO SORRY FOR EVERYTHING. I MISSED YOU SO MUCH! ARE WE STILL BFF AND ALL?!"

"Gay, Matt. Just plain gay. Don't say BFF, I mean really." You wriggled out of his grasp, and he released from a hug. He still held you at an arm's length away.

"You look so different!" he said happily. "You're personality screams 'sexy badass', but your looks say 'cute and innocent'. It's like a secret and unbeatable combo on a video game!"

"Lovely reference," you said, rolling your eyes. However, you couldn't help but smile and pull him back into a bear hug. "H-How are things?" you asked, your voice trembling.

"Aww, don't cry now. It's ok," he said, patting your back. He pulled away and turned in circles. "So? How do I look all grown-up?"

"Almost the same. Just taller," you said in monotone, and Matt pouted. "You know, you got meaner with age, too."

You laughed, enjoying the playful bickering you missed so much from long ago. Matt smiled, and took your hand in his.

"If you would come with me, I have someone you may like to meet."

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The ride in Matt's car seemed to take forever, and he drove like a maniac. You clutched your seatbelt for dear life as he weaved in and out of busy streets. You feared with the way he was driving that this night would be your last.

After a while, you began to not recognize the area. He drove more slowly through dark alleyways. He finally stopped in the middle of nowhere, and motioned you to get out of the car.

Taking you by the hand, he led you through a wide field, and then helped you jump over a tall chain link fence. You came up to a large, old building, resembling much like some sort of base.

"Matt, where are we?" you asked.

"I can't really tell you. Look, just trust me on this," he said vaguely. Walking slowly, he knocked on a heavy steel door, and two large men burst out, guns pointed.

Your hands flew up over your head in fear. You gave Matt a 'What-The-Hell-Is-Going-On-Here' look.

Matt grinned confidently. "Boys, boys, put those things away."

"You know the Boss's rules. No stranger gets in, and no hostage gets out," sneered one of the men.

"She's a good friend of mine. Cool it."

"If the Boss doesn't like it, it's your head, Tech-Nerd," seethed one of the other men.

Matt only pushed aside them, and you trailed behind him as quickly as you could.

However, the men grabbed each of your arms, pressing their guns to the back of your head. "Let's see if the Boss would like you as a gift," one of them whispered in your ear.

The men knocked Matt out of the way roughly, knocking him into the wall. They dragged you down long and eerie halls, until they reached what looked to be the main room.

"Boss," one of the men called out. "Tech-Nerd's back and some chick was following'. Maybe you can have her as a gift."

The man pushed you forward, and you stumbled to the floor. A pair of leather boots stepped before you. Your eyes traveled upward, and you gasped at who you saw.

"Nice to see you again…," you mumbled.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mello had changed a lot more than Matt.

No longer was he the childish boy from your younger years. He was built, and decked out completely in leather. His tight pants left almost nothing to the imagination, and his vest barely covered him as well. He wore it like a belly shirt, revealing skin. He still kept the same bowl cut from Wammy's, and he wore an almost permanent scowl.

Nonetheless, you couldn't help but think how _good_ puberty had been to him.

Mello put his finger under your chin, lifting it to look at him. "Pretty girl," he said. "Matt's got good eyes."

Mello tugged you upwards, and leaned into you. "You know, normally I kill trespassers on the spot, but for a sexy little thing like you, I'll make an exception." He ran his fingers through your hair, and then let his hand travel down your back, sending shivers down your spine.

_Mello…you've become such a __**filthy **__human being, _you thought with contempt.

Just as you felt a leather-clad hand lift up your shirt and run across your stomach, you spoke up.

"You know, _Mello_, I think that after three years you don't have the right to _touch me_ this way," you hissed.

Mello released you immediately. "How do you know who I am?!" he demanded, his hand hovering near his belt. You presumed he had a gun tucked secretly away somewhere in his pants.

"I don't have to answer to you."

Mello growled. "Actually, when you're in _my _Mafia base, unless you want your head blown off, you _do _answer to me."

You took in a sharp breathe. _The Mafia? Mello, you've fallen so low…_

You pushed your thoughts away and managed a smug smile. "Didn't you just say you'd make an exception to a 'sexy little thing like me'?"

Mello stomped towards you, grabbing your wrist. "Being a smartass won't get you anywhere."

"If you figure out who I am, all your wishes will come true," you said sarcastically. Mello gripped your wrist more tightly. "Tell me, dammit!"

You shook your head. "I'll give you a hint if you let go."

Mello released his grip reluctantly, and watched as you took in a deep breathe.

"OH Yes, I shall love you forever and ever. I'm so mean, but I can be warm and soft as a Marshmellow when I want to. Please love me," you said, impersonating Mello. The leather-clad man only scrunched his nose in confusion.

"I don't get it, who is that supposed to be?!"

You sighed, frustrated at how dense he was. You took in another dramatic breathe:

"Ebony and Ivory fit together in perfect-"

You pointed at yourself.

Mello stood there, wide-eyed. "H-H…Harmony?" he said softly.

You nodded. "Ding-ding-ding! Give the man a prize!" you said, clapping. You looked at Mello, whose face looked pain-stricken with sadness, as though he were on the brink of tears.

"Mello…," you said quietly, suddenly regretting all your dry humor. Mello turned angrily to his henchmen. "OUT!" he barked. "And find this little bitch a room to stay in."

Mello walked swiftly over to you, grabbing you by the shoulders. He directed you down one of the many hallways and into a room which looked exactly like Mello's old dorm at Wammy's. With all the video games strewn about, and the way Matt laid lazily in front of the T.V. screen, you were positive this was Matt's living quarters.

Mello shoved you onto Matt's bed, standing over you. "What the hell?!" he yelled. "You're not supposed to be here! You belong back in-"

"I left Wammy's a week after you," you interrupted. "And if anything _I _should be the one who's yelling. You and Matt left me, without even thinking of how _I felt. _In fact, the only one who even relatively cared was Near! Fucking _Near, _the antisocial robotic freak!" you screamed. With every sentence, your tone of voice got higher and higher, more strained.

"And another thing, what the _hell _happened to you, Mello? Look at what you've become! I miss the old you I used to know! _He _wasn't as bad as this!"

Mello clenched his fists. "Don't _mention _that little prick Near! And if anything, I've moved farther! I've got money, power; what more do you want?!"

"You had something worth more than all the money and the power in the world! At least then you had a heart!"

Mello was silenced, and a tense air filled the room.

"Um…hi, am I interrupting something?" Matt said from his seat on a bean bag chair. You had almost forgotten he was in the room.

"Matt….take me home."

"Aww…c'mon, don't go spoiling the reunion of the three amigos!" he said, throwing his arms around you and Mello.

"Besides…um, in case you didn't hear those two gorillas earlier, no stranger gets in, and no hostage gets out. Since you're a stranger and you got in, it's only fair to say you sure ain't getting out."

You groaned. "Great."

Mello turned on his heels and stomped out of the room unannounced. Matt pet your head comfortingly as you sighed sadly. "Think of it this way: The three amigos get to live together again!"

You gently pushed his hand away. "Make that two, Matt. Mello hates me."

"That's not true!" he protested, but you put your hand over his mouth.

"I just called him heartless and basically inferior to Near. That's the _biggest _insult you can give to Mello."

"I can think of a _lot _worse, actually. Besides, he never stopped loving you, you know. He's probably just a little taken back by you being here after all this time."

_Never stopped..?_ Your heart fluttered a bit, but you immediately pushed those innocent-schoolgirl feelings aside.

"I'm sure as a big Mafia boss he was given plenty of girls as 'gifts'," you shot at Matt.

"Yeah, he did, but all he ever did was tease them a little and then send them away all together. He's not the type to stick with a girl who only wants to get in his pants."

Matt thought for a moment."…If that was possible. I am yet to hear of someone who could fit in those tight little leather pants. I wonder if he's even able to pee…."

You slapped Matt on the shoulder to shut him up. He smirked. "Oh yeah, I know you like that. But it's gonna be a problem when you guys do the nasty, don't you think?"

You tackled Matt to the floor, but he evaded being pinned down by pouncing forward away from you, exactly like a cat. _He gives a whole new definition to 'cat like reflexes'. I guess it's from all these video games he plays._

Feeling as though you were caught off guard, you snatched the nearest thing off of Matt's desk, which happened to be one of his precious Wii game discs.

You held it as though you were a fingertip's movement away from snapping it in half.

Matt slapped his cheeks, his face contorted with horror.

"You _wouldn't!"_

_Snap._

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
_

"Matt, c'mon, I didn't know the disk was that fragile! I didn't mean it!"

"….."

Matt had been ignoring you for the past hour. You promised to buy him a new game, but he apparently still remained angry.

"Maaatttt," you whined.

"Leave him," Mello said, walking into the room. These were the first words you heard from him since your argument. "One less game will only save brain cells."

You shook your head. "Well, if Matt doesn't talk to me, no one will." Mello scowled at you, sitting roughly down on the bed.

You turned your attention back to Matt, taking in a deep breathe.

"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt."

Still no answer.

"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt."

"…….."

"MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!"

"Hi. UFUFUFUFUFUUUU!" you giggled, and ran away.

Matt scratched his head, confused. "What the hell just happened?"

Mello smirked, deciding to play along.

"This is ALL a dream, Matto. I am but a figment of your imagination." With that, Mello left the room, making jazz-hands.

Matt looked from the doorway to the video screen repeatedly. He settled down his gameboy carefully, as though it was a bomb set to blow up any second.

"N-No more games….for an hour."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You walked through the halls with a spring in your step. You haven't had that much fun since some of the antics pulled in Wammy's, and in a sense, despite the drama, you were glad to be back.

As you walked through the halls, you heard a muffled hum from one of the rooms. You opened the door slowly a crack out of curiosity, and you were amazed by what you saw.

There on the bed, rolling around, was Mello, clutching his sides, laughing. _He's so serious all the time, but…he's got the nicest laugh._

You smiled as you watched from the doorway, when the laughing suddenly stopped.

"You can come in if you want."

You gasped, realizing you've been caught. However, instead of slamming the door and running like your instincts, you entered the room quietly, shutting the door behind you.

Mello sat up straight now, with one leg tucked under him and the other hanging off the bed. You stood awkwardly in the middle of the room until he motioned you to sit.

"I've gotta admit, I haven't laughed like that in a long time," he said slowly, rubbing his sore jaw from the laughter.

You grinned a little. "Well, at least now you know you're not entirely dead inside."

Mello scoffed. "I've been dead since-" He stopped abruptly. "….Never mind."

You leaned forward a bit. "No, go ahead. It's nice that you're talking at least. Besides," you said, ever so slowly inching your hand towards his. "We've got three years worth of catching up to do."

Your palm covered his hand, but he allowed it. Slowly, his fingers intertwined with yours, and he gripped you hand tightly. You smiled at him, and he flinched, shaking your hand off of his as though it were eating it alive.

"What now?!" you asked angrily, and he sighed. He turned toward you, putting his elbows on his knees and making a pyramid with his hands, as though he were about to give you a lecture.

"Listen to me, you dense simple-minded selfish _idiot._ Do _not _do things like that," he said, pointing to your hand. "…Or anything relative to romance-y stuff if you hate me. You'll be giving the wrong impression. And another thing, also don't do that if you plan on just being friends, because honestly, I'm not going to bear-"

You silenced his lecture with a kiss, pressing your lips almost hard against his. His eyes widened, but eventually closed with comfort.

When you pulled away, he spoke.

"So does that mean-"

"Shut up, Mello," you said silencing him with another kiss.

Reuniting never felt so right.


	25. Act TwentyFive: Boom

Act Twenty-Five: Boom

You skipped happily through the halls of the mafia base the next morning. Many of Mello's minions filed quickly through the halls, as though in a rush. When you reached the main room, you realized that the base was abuzz with more henchmen than when you arrived, all of which making arrangements somewhere down in the basement.

Mello sat with his legs on top of a coffee table, chocolate in hand. He waved you over and you sat down next to him. "Mello, what's going on?"

Mello sighed. "Not much. We just kidnapped the director of the NPA is all. It's an experiment…," he said, trailing off.

Your eyes widened. "K-Kidnapped? You _kidnapped _someone?"

"For the notebook…," he said darkly. "With the Death Note in my possession…I'll be two steps ahead of Near."

You tilted your head. "Death…Note?"

Mello shot you a warning glance. "You don't know? That's how Kira is able to kill all these criminals. A name and a face…you write down the person's name, and they will die."

Shivers ran down your spine. _Such a powerful weapon…in the hands of such a person. Kira has to be stopped._

Mello intertwined both your fingers again. "Look, you may not like it, but this is what has to be done if Kira's going to be stopped and if I can finally beat Near."

You turned away, your hand still in his. "…I won't help you. But I guess…I'll turn my head."

Mello got up, placing a kiss on your forehead. "Whatever makes you comfortable. Anyway, excuse me, I'm going to check up on our little guest." Mello put on a coat with feathers on the edges of the hood and walked towards the basement entrance.

"Going out dancing?" you yelled after him.

"I'll dance for you, but it's fifty bucks an hour," he called back, and you laughed.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mello walked slowly down the steps to the basement, his heavy boots clinking against the steel floor. He opened the door to see the director of the NPA tied to a chair, two of his minions standing over him. Rod Ross, one of the head people in the mafia, stood behind Mello.

"Has he decided to say anything yet?" Rod asked the two minions.

"He told us the Japanese police are beginning to wimp out on Kira. Looks like right now the only ones officially working for L are Soichiro Yagami, Kanzo Mogi, and Touta Matsuda. Isn't that right?"

"Y-Yeah…," replied the director weakly. "There was also Ukita, but he was killed by Kira…"

"Right. And as top cop you somehow didn't know that this notebook even existed, or that you had it."

"Ha-ha! Japanese cops must be a joke!" scoffed the other mafia member.

Mello walked his way over to the director, the mafia members making way.

"Of all the investigators on the Task Force, depute director Yagami would be the highest ranking, right?" Mello asked.

"Y-Yeah…"

Mello laughed, taking a bite out of his chocolate bar. He pointed his finger dramatically to the ceiling, preparing to make a speech.

"My theory is that there are _two _notebooks out there. One of them is in Kira's possession, the other is with the NPA."

Mello's hand became a fist, and he brought it down to his chest with determination. "We're going to take _both _of them."

"Huh?" said both minions at the same time.

"Don't worry. As long as we do as Mello says there will be no mistakes. It's been a year and a half since he joined us, and in that entire time he's never been wrong about anything."

"Yeah, but that's what's so weird. If he was able to bring us the head of a mafia boss that even Kira himself couldn't kill, why the hell would he even need the notebook to begin with?" piped in one of the mafia members.

Mello scoffed. "It's not _just _the notebook I'm after. I want to eliminate my competition."

Mello crushed the chocolate bar wrapper in his hand.

"I will be the _best. _I don't care what it takes; I'll beat Near by _any _means necessary."

You shut the heavy metal door as quietly as you could, escaping from the scene you just secretly witnessed.

_Really, Mello? Even if it gets you killed?_

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
_

You ran up the steps and threw yourself on the couch, trying to sit as casually as possible. Mello came back up from the basement, and took a seat beside you.

"How's your guest?" you asked, trying to hide that you were out of breathe.

"Whatever..," he said, munching on his chocolate bar. _He looks tired, _you thought as you rested your head against his shoulder.

"Mello, don't worry so much."

He grunted in disinterest and continued eating. Suddenly, one of Mello's mafia henchmen came running up the steps in a panic.

"B-Boss!" he said, out of breathe.

"Shut up," Ross barked. "Can't you see that I'm busy?"

"I-I'm sorry, but…but Eddie and I were talking for a minute, and it looks like Takimura hung himself with his tie somehow!"

"What's wrong with you?! Just great. What are we supposed to do with a dead hostage?"

"No, this'll be just fine," Mello interrupted, and you lifted your head from his shoulder in confusion.

_If Kira is responsible for this, _Mello thought. _We know he can't touch us since he doesn't know our names or faces. That's why he went after Takimura instead. That means Kira is someone who knows about the kidnapping._

_That should make things rather…interesting, _he thought, breaking off another piece of chocolate viciously.

_What's he thinking_? you thought as you watched his expression.

"So what are we gonna do, Mello?" Ross asked.

"I'll tell you what we're gonna do. We're going to kidnap Soichiro Yagami's daughter, Sayu Yagami."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_What?!_

"Mello, you can't be seriously thinking about kidnapping another innocent person; a young _girl _at that! She has nothing to do with this!"

Mello grabbed a microphone that double-functioned as a communication device. "Cool it. This is what has to be done. I have a plan."

Mello waited for the phone on the other line to ring, and the voice of a man answered. "This is Yagami."

"Look, about trading the director in exchange for the notebook; the deal's been cancelled. Takimura is dead."

You heard the person on the other line shout in anger, but Mello remained composed. "Look, it's only cancelled though regarding the director. The new deal is this: the notebook for Sayu Yagami."

There was a silence of shock on the other line. Mello smirked. "Seeing as you are the director of the Japanese Police, it would be stupid to ask you not to call the cops," Mello said matter-of-factly. Suddenly, his tone became very threatening.

"But you had _better _handle this on your own, without backup. If I see the police making any big movements in the next little while, I'll kill your daughter. That's right, just as easily as we killed the director."

You were taken back by his last sentence. "Mello, wasn't he-"

Mello put his finger to your lips, motioning for silence.

"I'll send you a photo of Takimura's corpse to show I mean business. Take a _good _look. I'll contact you tomorrow."

Mello hung up abruptly, heaving a deep breathe. He looked at you from the corners of his eyes.

"She should be here by now. I've got some work to do. Do as you please, but _don't _interfere with my plans."

You sighed, getting up from the couch. "I'm…going to my room. Does that count as "interfering"?

Mello sat in silence, perhaps meaning a wordless 'no'.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When you came back into the main room, Mello was once again making a phone call. You sat down on the couch and listened intently.

"Yagami, right now you are the only one who can hear my voice…"

"LIES." Matt shouted from the other room, and you suddenly became aware once again of his existence.

Mello grinded his teeth together. "Listen. _Very. _Carefully," he hissed into the phone.

"I'm the one who kidnapped your daughter," he said, opening a new chocolate bar. "But don't get the wrong idea." He winked at you, and you rolled your eyes.

"I have no interest in your daughter's life, one way or the other, or yours for that matter. There's only one thing I want, and you know what that is." You kicked Mello in the leg, and he mouthed 'Two things, now shut up!'

"…The notebook….Now all you have to do is follow my instructions. If you do that, no one has to die. As for the trade, I propose we prepare things so that both of us can walk away satisfied. Play along and there will be no problems."

There was a long pause before Mello finally spoke again. "You see the entrance, don't you, Yagami? Go inside," he demanded. _Entrance? Are there secret entrances to this base? _

Mello nodded to one of his henchmen, and he put on a black mask that covered his entire face. He looked at you with a serious expression. "It's time for the exchange."

The henchman made his way down to the basement with Ross following, and after a few moments, Mello spoke into the microphone. "Alright Y462, proceed," he said, speaking in code to him through a secret walkie talkie that he had.

Mello sat back with a sigh. "Now it's just time to sit back and enjoy the show."

You tilted your head in confusion. "What show?"

"Y462 is heading to a helicopter with the "notebook", while I will also launch a missile, untraceable by any radar the police _or _Near's damn SPK would have. Meanwhile, in truth, the notebook will remain here in our possession."

Ross came back up from the basement with a shiny, black book in hand. You watched as he walked over and set it down on the table. He flipped open the cover to a clean page.

"Do it," Mello said with a terrifying smirk.

Ross began writing names down in the notebook as you watched helplessly.

"I don't like this, Mello…," you mumbled, but he didn't hear you.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"The next step," Mello said. "Is to find out just how much I can control people with this thing."

It was a couple of days after the exchange, and activity at the base had calmed down a bit. Mello sat with his legs propped up on the table, and you sat next to him, observing him as he flipped through the notebook.

You poked Mello in the ribs repeatedly. "Melloooo, I'm bored. Can't you look at that thing later?"

"No," he said bluntly. "Why don't you go hang out with Matt?"

"I think he died or somethin'. He hasn't been out in days, and he's only had a total of one sentence this whole chapter. I fear he's becoming a _minor character!_" you gaped in horror.

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

Suddenly, the notebook flew out of Mello's hands, and floated over to land on one of Mello's henchmen's head, named Kal Snyder. You and Mello gasped at the same time.

"The, uh….the notebook just flew," Mello said in shock.

"Ha, it's a notebook that kills people. Hell, nothing surprises me anymore," Ross said with boredom.

Suddenly, Snyder let out a bloodcurdling scream and fell out of his chair.

"B-Boss! Who is this?! The guy in the freaky costume! What the hell is he? Who brought him here?!" he shouted.

"A-A shinigami?" Snyder said, and he began to laugh shakily. You wondered who in the world he was talking to.

"H-He says you can see him if you touch the notebook!" Snyder shouted, and he threw the book on the table. The whole group looked at each other, and then agreed. Putting their hands one by one, all of you touched the notebook.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Screams were heard like a domino effect.

One by one, the members of the room screeched in horror at the tall and evil monster that stood in the middle of the room. You heard the sound of guns being loaded, and Mello reacted quickly, jumping on you and pressing you down on the couch.

The mafia men shot repeatedly at the monster, but bullets had no effect.

"Nice try, but you humans can't kill a shinigami," said the hideous thing.

Gasps erupted from everyone in the room. "J-Jack's right," Ross said, using Snyder's penname. "That's no costume. That's a real live shinigami. So now what do we do?"

Silence filled the room. Mello slowly lifted his weight off of you, but place himself in front of you like a human shield.

"Catch," Mello said casually, throwing one of his chocolate bars to the shinigami.

"What's this?" it asked curiously.

You grinned. "That is chocolate, Mello's anti-drug." Mello shoved you slightly in the shoulder, and you laughed.

The shinigami took a tentative bite, and then began devouring it in haste.

"Mnnn…chocolate is so good," the shinigami, named Sidoh, cooed.

Slowly, the men began interrogating the spirit from another realm, and key information was shared.

'"Tell me, is it true? About the last two rules," Ross said firmly. "If the person using the note fails to consecutively write names of people to be killed within thirteen days of each other, then the user will die. If you make this note unusable by tearing it up or burning it, all the humans who have touched the note until then will die. Are you saying those two rules are made up?!"

"OMNOMNOM…Oh, yeah, those rules are definitely made up. My guess is some shinigami wrote those rules down as a joke before giving the notebook to a human."

Mello put his shoulder on the headrest of the couch, a chocolate bar poised at his mouth. _As for the thirteen day rule, _he thought. _We can test that out by using one of our people. But the real question is, was this the notebook that was used by Kira? And, if so, was he aware that these two rules were false? If he did know, he could've used these two rules to his advantage. In particular, the thirteen day rule would've allowed him to prove his innocence in only thirteen days…_

"OMNOMNOM….."

"Sidoh?" Mello said suddenly. "Go keep watch outside," he said, his voice harshly forceful.

"It'll be very convenient for us that you can't be seen by humans. Go outside and keep watch. _Got it?!"_

"Scary…," both you and Sidoh mumbled at the same time.

You waved goodbye happily to the shinigami as he left, and Mello put your hand down. "Don't act so happy towards a god of death!"

"You said I can do what I want!"

"So long as it doesn't interfere with the case."

"Waving is interfering?!"

"When it makes me worry, yes."

You smiled and leaned down to rest on his chest. "Okay, fine I won't make you worry."

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You fell asleep in Mello's arms, but woke up to the sound of screaming.

Mello sat calmly, but you watched shaking as the mafia members simultaneously fell to the floor, clutching their chests.

"M-Mello!" you said in fear, pressing your face into his leather vest.

"I'm fine," he said in an all too calm tone. _He's panicking,_ you thought. _He always overcompensates in keeping his composure when he's panicking. _

From down each of the many halls, you heard the echoes of explosions. Mello grunted, biting into his chocolate bar in frustration. _So, Kira is involved after all,_ Mello thought. _I didn't think he'd go this far…My plan was supposed to be perfect! Damn! What the hell is Sidoh doing?!_

Mello shot up from the couch, grabbing your wrist. "Run," he commanded, and you tailed after him. Mello glanced back and gasped as he noticed the notebook was being left being.

"Roy! Steer! The notebook is under Rod's ass. Bring it to the surveillance room upstairs!" he commanded to the few henchmen that were still alive.

Mello ran up the steps, still holding your wrist. "Matt!" he called, and the red-head was stumbling up the steps with dozens of video games in hand.

"_Matt, are you friggin' retarded?! Stop playing games when there's a crazy mofo killing people!!"_

You leaned back a little and grabbed the gamer's wrist, causing him to drop all his games.

"NOOOOOOOO!" he sobbed as the three of you ran into the surveillance room. Mello shut the door tightly, and stopped to catch his breathe. Mello walked quickly up to a table, picking up a remote with three buttons. With a deep breathe, he pressed the first and second buttons, and you felt a slight shudder from below.

"What the hell was _that?!"_ you cried. "Did you just _blow up _part of the building?!"

"Pretty cool, huh?" Mello said with a smirk.

You heard movement from outside the door, and Mello froze.

"Matt," he said, teeth clenched. "You and Harmony, get out _now. _Take her far away. I'll call you to get me."

"What?! Hell no, Mello!" you protested, but Matt was already carrying you piggyback style.

"You make sure you call me, alright?" Matt said, to which the real concern was whether or not Mello would make it out.

"Go."

Matt opened the window in the surveillance room, making it out on a fire escape. He made it as low as he could down the ladder until there was no more of the ladder left. The entire time he was singing the Spiderman theme song.

"Matt?"

"Yes?"

"You're retarded."

"I know," he replied happily.

He suddenly jumped off the ladder, sending a shock of fear through you.

"MAAAATTTT-"

"I BELIEVE I CAN- _FUCK!" _Matt shouted as he landed hard in the bushes. You stood up, unharmed thanks to Matt who provided a cushion for your landing.

Matt quickly picked you up again, not bothering to check for injuries. The both of you ran and jumped over the chain link fence, quickly getting into Matt's shining car.

He started the engine, but was reluctant to leave.

"Matt, can't we…?"

"We can't do anything. Mello is Mello, and he's got a plan. He always has a plan…," Matt trailed off.

You and Matt decided to sit in the car for five minutes longer, watching to see how Mello's "plan" would unfold.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mello heard the steel door to the surveillance room creak open.

"_Don't move. _I've already blown up the two entrances to this place. This'll be your _only _warning. The next explosion will take out the entire building, as well as all your men inside. So you _better _do as I say."

The man called Soichiro Yagami removed his protective mask to face Mello. Mello laughed to himself. "Yagami again, huh? Maybe I should've killed you when I had the chance." Mello pointed his gun as Yagami, his expression dark.

"History repeats itself…But I never dreamed in a million years that I'd be bargaining for the notebook with you again.

Yagami stood quietly, and focused on Mello's face with his newly acquired shinigami eyes. _M-I-H-A-E-L…K-E-E-H-L…_

"You're real name…," Soichiro said slowly. "It's Mihael Keehl."

The smirk was immediately wiped off of Mello's face as his eyes widened in horror. _What the hell?!? How did he_-

"It's over, Mello. It's time to turn yourself in," said Soichiro in a righteous tone. "If you give up, I won't kill you, and you have my word on that."

Soichiro opened to a new page in the notebook. "You know how this works. I write your name, and you will die. Let go of that trigger and put your hands in the air!"

Mello's face was devoid of emotion as he sat in front of countless flickering surveillance monitors.

"Humph….Yagami-"

"Don't move! I've written your first name, and it will only take me a second to write your surname!"

"I'm truly sorry. For what it's worth, I give you my word that I never wanted to kill you…," Mello said slowly.

"But tell me, Yagami…you've never killed someone before, have you?"

Suddenly, one of Mello's henchmen hidden in the shadows on the floor pulled out a machine gun, hitting Soichiro with a hail of gunfire.

"Jose! The notebook!" Mello shouted.

Mello ran over to grab Soichiro's mask, and placed it over his head.

"Hmm?"

Mello turned to see as two more of Soichiro's men came running through the doorway, stopping in horror as they saw their beloved police chief on the floor.

"D-Depute Director!" one of them shouted. They turned their attention to Mello, who stood almost spaced out in the middle of the room.

"It's all over, Mello! Put your hands up and surrender!"

Mello turned his head slightly, glaring at them from the corners of his eyes.

He smirked from under the mask as his finger hovered over the third button.

"_Boom."_

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
_

"Harmony, look, we really should get out of here."

You sighed helplessly. "I guess…I'm just worried about Mello, is all."

Matt removed the safety brake and started to drive off, when you and him felt a great shudder and a huge sound, much like a thunderclap.

"_What the hell?!" _Matt cried.

Both you and he looked out the window in time to see the entire Mafia base blow up in flames.


	26. Act TwentySix: Scar

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Me: Dear Reviewers such as Josephine_Falnor, RavenFire40, and n a g a s h i .n o. k u r o, who take the time to review my chapters, sometimes EACH AND EVERY ONE, WOW!, I love youuuu! ^^**

**Mello: You're scaring me.**

**Matt: If love scares you so much, Mello, then stop hitting on the reader xD**

**Mello: -_-**

**Me: OMG MATT!  
**

**Matt: W-What?**

**Josephine_Falnor: **Wonderful chapter. I cried again when Matt showed up. This review might be longer, but I don't have time. I must go read the next chapter!!

**Me: MATT, STOP MAKING THE READERS CRY! I'LL KILL YOU OFF NEXT CHAPTER!**

**Matt: WTF WHY ME AGAIN?!**

**Me: Because you're way to easy to blame ^^**

**Mello: Aren't we forgetting something?**

**Matt: Yeah, Yeah, Misseh does not own Death Note or its characters.**

**Me: By the way, this chapter became somewhat of a songfic, so the songs don't belong to me, either. Matt's just very musical ^^  
**

**Mikami: SAKUJO!**

**Me, Matt, and Mello: o.o  
**

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Twenty-Six: Scar

"_Mello!!!" _you sobbed, slamming your fists against the car windows.

"_That idiot!" _Matt yelled, nearly tearing the car door of its hinges. "What sane person blows up a building with them _inside?!"_

You ran two steps ahead of Matt towards the slowly crumbling building. The flames were like a hungry beast, engulfing the building in hot tongues of fire that would eat it up until it was reduced to ashes. Tears rolled off your cheeks as you ran towards the flames, not caring if you would get. Your only concern was Mello.

Matt grabbed your wrist as you were just about to jump into the fire. "Wait a minute, dumbass! I don't need to go in and save two idiots! _Wait. Here_," Matt commanded.

You struggled under his grasp, but his command was firm. "Don't worry, I'll get him," he said comfortingly, but even he was unsure of this promise.

Matt took off his vest and gloves, and ran into the flames. You sobbed from the sidelines as many moments passed without a sign on any of them.

"M-Matt!" you screamed. "_Mello!"_

You gripped Matt's vest tightly, tears staining the fabric. _W-Why?_

Suddenly, you heard screams from within the flames. You peered through the thick smoke to see two figures trekking their way through the rubble.

Matt held his fallen friend in his arms, Mello's body limp and bright red. The flames licked the right side of Mello's face and arm, the skin pink and fleshy. His clothes were torn, the only remnants being part of his vest and his pants.

You nearly ran into Matt and Mello, tears flowing more quickly. You embraced the both of them as much as possible without touching Mello's wound.

Matt coughed, his knees wobbling from exhaustion. "L-Let's go," he said, his voice hoarse.

Both you and Matt walked slowly towards the car as the scene of the burning mafia base faded behind you.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Matt leaned against the Motel check-in counter, coughing every now and then. The young woman working there sat with a frightened expression on her face, staring at the odd group before her.

"D-Doesn't he need a doctor…?" she asked, addressing Mello. His body still bled as his unconscious body leaned against you. You sobbed quietly, trying not to attract attention.

Matt slid $200 to the woman, and her eyes widened considerably.

"Just get us a room, please. This guy here it fine. Pretty convincing Halloween costume, huh?"

"I-It's the middle of December…."

"Whatever. Anyway, this girl here is just a hobo prostitute and I smell of ashes because I'm a smoker. We need a room, and the sign outside says this is a Motel. So, put two and two together, and everyone walks away happy."

Matt tapped his fingers impatiently as the woman reluctantly slid him a room key. "U-Um….h-have a good night…."

Matt helped you carry Mello up the steps to the second floor. He opened the door and shut it tightly, locking it.

He laid Mello gently on the couch as you dropped to your knees, sobbing into his chest. You listened to his breathing, which was shallow and panty. His heartbeat seemed so painfully slow to you.

You lifted your head to look at Matt, your eyes brimming with heavy tears. "M-Matt, d-do something!"

Matt ran to the bathroom with haste. "_Damn it, Matt, now is not a time to take a piss!!"_

Matt came back with a med kit in hand, opening it wide. "O-oh…."

Matt took out cleaning alcohol patches and began to delicately wipe at the wounds, disinfecting it. Mello may have been unconscious, but his breathing quickened each time Matt wiped at the wounds in response to pain. Matt then took out a roll of bandages and wrapped Mello up like a mummy, finally finishing his doctoring performance.

"That's the best I can do," he said with a cough. You wrapped your arms around Matt in a thank-you hug, trying to hold back more sobs. He patted your back comfortingly.

"Don't worry about it, Harmony."

You stared at Mello's sleeping form. "I saw those burns. They're third degree. He'll have scars for the rest of his life," you said in a depressed tone.

"Is that a problem for you? Scars can be sexy, you know." Matt leaned over to look at Mello. "Mello? Can you hear me? You'll be ok! And your hair looks fabulous! FABULOUS!"

Mello stirred slightly in response, and you whacked Matt hard upside the head. "Ow! Quit it!"

You leaned over and kissed Mello's uncovered cheek. Suddenly, you felt a hand brush hair away from your face, and Mello's bright blue eyes were open and staring right at you.

"M-Mello!" you cried, nearly jumping on him in a tight embrace.

"You're a dumbshit," Matt said with a carefree smile.

"It's nice to see you too, Matt," Mello said sarcastically in a hoarse voice.

You punched Mello's chest lightly many times. "You really are an idiot! Idiot, idiot, _idiot!"_

"Hey, I got out, didn't I? Tell me, though, what's with all the bandages?"

You and Matt stared at each other in a long pause, and Mello snapped his fingers impatiently. "Hello?! I don't speak stare!"

Matt sighed. "Did you really think you'd come out from blowing yourself up in a building unscathed? You got burned, Mello."

Mello ran his fingers across the bandaged half of his face. "How bad is it?"

Matt reached over to the med kit and pulled out a small mirror. He tugged on the edge of the bandages on Mello's face and began unraveling it. "See for yourself."

Mello sat up, staring himself down in the mirror. He glared at his own image as though he could intimidate it into turning back to what it used to be. He clutched the mirror so tightly you feared it would be crushed in his hands.

"M-Mello, it's not that-"

"_Damn it all!" _he yelled suddenly, throwing the mirror against the wall, breaking it into millions of tiny pieces. You winced at his action, backing slightly off of the couch.

He looked at you from the corners of his eyes, and you cautiously grabbed his hand. He smacked it away, causing you to recoil.

"Don't touch me. I don't need your goddamn _pity!_" he hissed. Tears were brimming in your eyes.

"You know, Mello, just because you got some scar, it doesn't give you the right to act like such an ass!" Matt snapped. Mello glared daggers at his friend, silently commanding him to leave the room.

"Psh, whatever….you lay a hand on her though, you're dead meat," Matt mumbled as he got up and left for the other room.

"Matt….," you whispered, feeling suddenly helpless. The silence in the room was extremely uncomfortable.

"Leave too," Mello said suddenly. "If I'm so friggin' scary now, then just leave. This…this _thing_…..is a constant reminder of my failure. If you left, I wouldn't blame you."

The way he said this suddenly made you feel at though he were talking more than just about you leaving the room. Your eyes narrowed at his notion.

"You're _disgusting_, Mello."

Mello's eyes widened, pained by your unexpected statement.

"You're _disgusting, _Mello," you continued. "To even _assume _I'm that kind of person. Do you honestly think I give a shit? Do you think I'm the type to leave over something as dumb as looks? You're not a failure; you're just stupid for thinking so."

Mello grasped your wrist to stop you from leaving the room. He pulled you down on him, his hands trembling slightly.

"………T-Tell me again……."

"That I don't care?" you said to his chest.

"P-Please……."

You pulled upwards, nuzzling into the nape of his neck. He shook slightly when you pecked him there slightly, your lips almost just brushing his skin.

"I do not care, Mello. I honestly don't." You smiled at the thought that the almighty Mello was actually so insecure.

Mello let out a long sigh, still holding onto you. Eventually, his breathing slowed and he fell asleep. _He's so warm and childish when he sleeps,_ you thought, watching as his arms clung to your waist as though they were his lifeline. Matt poked his head into the room, smiling.

"Hey, why is when I tell him he looks fabulous, it doesn't work, but to everything you say, he goes brain-dead."

You smirked. "I got the magic touch, Mattie. Only I can tame the beast," you whispered, careful not to wake Mello up.

"Nahh, it's probably your hooters," Matt said plainly. You kicked him best as possible from the couch, and he crumpled to the floor when you hit him hard in the shin.

"Damn, girl! You're not human!" he said in a harsh whisper, and you could only smile.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mello had not been out of the house in over a week. And you were beginning to get annoyed.

"Mello!" you whined. "How many times do I have to tell you you're as pretty as a girl until you go outside?!"

Mello snorted. "I'm not _pretty_, smartass. And second of all, that's you. The general public will still stare. I'm a sight for sore eyes."

Mello jerked his head so that his hair fell over his burnt half of face. You groaned and ran your fingers through it to push it back. As always, however, he would flip it forward again.

You stared outside the window of the living room. There was not a cloud in the sky, and a gentle breeze blew through the trees.

"Mello, it's beautiful out! Let's go for a walk, just the two of us! The lady at the Motel desk told me there's a park near here."

"No. I'm fine inside."

You sighed, and walked quickly out of the room. When you came back, you had Matt in tow.

"Ha! Nice try, but if anything Matt will _agree _with me. He hates the outdoors."

Matt stared at Mello's hair, and smirked evilly. Mello frowned in confusion when Matt took a deep breathe.

"_I'm an emo kid, non-conforming as can be._

_You'd be non-conforming too if you looked just like me!_

_I have paint on my nails and makeup on my face._

_I'm almost emo enough to start shaving my legs!_

'_Cause I feel real deep when I'm dressing in drag._

_I call it freedom of expression; most just call me a fag._

'_Cause our dudes look like chicks, and our chicks look like dykes._

'_Cause emo, is one step, below transvestite!_

_Stop my breathing and slit my throat, _

_I must be emo._

_I don't jump around when I go to shows._

_I must be emo_!" Matt sang.

"_You prick!"_ Mello roared, and he lashed out at Matt, ready to choke the life out of him. Matt made a mad dash for the front door, and he winked at you as he ran out. You immediately understood his plan and ran out with him.

Matt could run surprisingly fast and for a long time for someone who would only exercise his fingers. He made it all the way to the small park in less than five minutes, leaving you out of breathe as you arrived.

Mello had already run three laps around the swings in pursuit of Matt before he stopped dead in his tracks, realizing where he was.

"No fair! You guys tricked me!" he yelled, attracting fearful stares from the young children on the swings You came up from behind Mello, hooking your thumbs in the belt of his pants. His cheeks turned a crimson red from embarrassment.

"See, Mello? That wasn't so bad. The weather's nice, isn't it?"

Mello sighed with defeat, and removed one of his leather gloves. His fingers linked with yours, and you enjoyed the warm touch of his skin instead of the feel of the coarse leather. He tugged you towards the swings, and he took a seat, pulling you down on his lap. He swung you both gently, the breeze blowing against your cheeks from the movement.

You couldn't help but blush. "You know, Mello, when I was little, this had always been one of my little "romantic fantasies." You're so storybook-style," you said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Harmony?"

"Yes?"

"Do me a favor?"

"Uh huh?"

"Shut up."

You sighed happily, and leaned back against Mello as he continued to swing you both gently. You watched the playground and nearly facepalmed as you saw Matt running in a panic towards you.

"No time to explain, run!" he gasped out of breathe, leaning against the fence of the swings entrance.

"Matt, what did you do _now?"_

"W-Well, I was playing a Pokemon Diamond Wi-Fi battle against some kid, and he cheated, so I sort of…..hacked his game and made it unusable…and he started crying like a wuss… so now his mom and her little gang of old women are after me!"

"Matt, the kid is friggin' _ten! _You're eighteen!"

"Cheaters are still cheaters despite age! I mean, it's impossible that a level 20 Bulbasaur could have a one-hit kill against my level 100 Charizard! _Preposterous!"_ he cried in an exasperated tone, with his accent suddenly turning British as he cried 'preposterous'.

"Hey! There he is!" cried the boy's mother. She threw a box of apple juice at Matt, who ducked with a quick reaction. Much more juice was thrown, and lucky for you and Matt, you had quick reflexes. Mello, however, was not as lucky, and received many a juice box to the face, leaving him wet and sticky.

You, Matt, and Mello, hit the ground running, laughing all the way to the hotel. You skipped up the steps to the motel room, hugging Mello when you closed the door. "Ok, besides the fact that Matt ruined everything…"

_Snort._

"….it was fun, wasn't it?"

"I guess…but I don't think I'll be going outside that soon…."

"What?!? Why not?"

"I now have a traumatizing fear of forty-year old mothers wielding juice boxes," he said, tugging at a wet and sticky strand of his hair.

You rolled your eyes, and he only pressed his sticky forehead against yours. "Just kidding, dumbass. I get your point. A scar is a scar, and I'll have to deal."

Taking advantage of your closeness, you placed a light kiss against his lips, which left a slight taste of apple juice on your lips.

Mello blushed madly, and ruffled your hair. "….I'm going to shower…see ya…."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You were curled up against the armrest of the couch, sitting alone in the quiet of your motel room. Mello and Matt were gone again on duty, busy at work with the Kira case and stalking some girl named "Misa Amane", who they suspected as the second Kira.

You sighed, pressing your cheek against the armrest. "Mello and Matt have me, and one girl in their life should be enough…."

You nearly jumped off of the couch when you heard the phone ring, dashing for the handset.

"H-Hello?"

"What's up, home-skillet?"

"MATT WHERE THE EFF ARE YOU?!"

On the other line, Matt held the phone far away from his ear to avoid damaging his hearing from your yelling. "I'm just calling to check up on you. We're fine, thanks for asking."

"Matt, you know I'm worried sick! When are you guys coming home?" Matt heard you say in a pleading tone through the phone.

Matt sighed. "Don't worry, we're coming back tonight. Late, but we're coming."

"…Okay."

Matt looked at Mello from the corners of his eyes. He was too absorbed in reading files to speak.

"Oh, by the way, Harmony," Matt said slowly. "Mello sends you a message!"

Mello's eyes shot up. "What?"

"_Take me; you know that I miss you,_

_I wanna get with you_

_Tonight but I can't now baby girl _

_And that's the issue,_

_Girl you know that I miss you,_

_I just wanna kiss you_

_But I can't right now so baby kiss me thru the phone!"_ Matt sang.

"MATTTT!" you heard Mello roar in the background from the other line.

"G-Gotta go! See you later!" Matt said quickly and hung up.

You smiled, sighing to yourself. _You know, now that Mello is barely here, maybe encouraging him to come outside wasn't such a great idea. But still, at least I can rest knowing they know where home is. See you tonight....Mello.  
_


	27. Act TwentySeven: Please

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Me: *squeals***

**Mello: What are you so happy for?**

**Me: I'd like to call this chapter the one "contradictive" chapter.**

**Mello: How so?**

**Me: Well...you know how the story is titled "Childhood Innocence"?**

**Mello: Yes.**

**Me: Not anymore!**

**Mello: o///o**

**Me: Hahaha!**

**Matt: Oooh, kinky ;D**

**Me: STFU.**

**Matt: Misseh doesn't own Death Note or its characters, or any songs included in this chapter. She is a pervert, though. I bet she's got TONS of hentai.**

**Me: You would know, Matt.**

**Mello: By the by, since you mentioned it, This chapter is especially where the rating T comes in. Adult situations, kiddies.  
**

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Twenty-Seven: Please

You sighed as you stared out the window, your face held in your palm. You had nothing to do for the past three days, and Mello and Matt had still not come home. Your breakfast was becoming cold on the table. _Liars,_ you thought, grinding your teeth together in frustration.

You didn't hear the door open, nor did you hear the two said boys enter. Matt tiptoed across the living room, grabbing a magazine from a nearby table. Taking aim, he snuck up behind you and began whacking your head with the magazine. "Give me all your money!" he yelled playfully.

You, however, took this very seriously, and began screaming for your life.

"I-I was just kidding! It's me, Matt! STOP SCREAMING!" he cried, his arms over his head defensively. Mello kicked Matt to the floor and made his way over to you. He kissed your lips softly and quickly silenced your screams.

"M-Mello!" you cried when he pulled away. "Matt! You guys are finally back!" You linked all of your arms together, wrapping around them tightly.

Mello heaved a sigh and patted your head. "Don't worry about it. You have us all to yourself today. It's our day off."

You gaped at his statement. "But you never take a day off! What makes today so special?"

Mello ran his fingers through your hair, petting you lightly. "Don't worry about the why. Just appreciate this opportunity, you skeptical dummy."

You put your fingers to your chin in thought. "So today, we can do whatever I want?"

Matt took a seat on the couch, stretching lazily. "Yep, so long as it agrees with the laws of physics."

A smile crept its way to your lips. You turned to Mello with anticipation gleaming in your eyes. "I want to go….to SIX FLAGS!!!"

Mello groaned. "Oh yeah, roller coasters and barfing people, plus that nasty cotton candy that gets stuck to the roof of your mouth. That's all so very appealing and romantic," Mello said sarcastically.

You pursed your lips in annoyance. "You said anything I wanted, and that's what I want!"

Mello sighed. There was no use.

"You're ready, right? Then hurry up and let's go!"

You skipped happily to the front door and down the steps with Mello and Matt trailing behind you. Once outside, Mello ran ahead, full of energy. You stopped dead in your tracks when you saw what waited for you.

"Ta-da!" Mello said proudly, revving up the engine of his newly acquired toy.

"You….got….a _motorcycle?!?_" you said in disbelief.

"Well, obviously. It doesn't make sense for him to own all that leather and not have a bike," Matt said matter-of-factly.

Mello put on his helmet and patted the back seat. "You coming?"

"Mello, it's over an hour of a drive. An hour on a motorcycle with you does not feel safe, no offense."

Mello scoffed and began to drive circles around you. "You've never ridden one of these babies, have you? You know you want to see what the rush of it all is about," he teased.

You put your hands defiantly on your hips. "I'm telling you, no."

"It's either that, or put up with Matt's driving for an hour." You turned your head slowly to look at the red car that Matt waited in. He waved at you seemingly innocently, but you knew what chaos he was on the road.

"C-Coming!" you said quickly, grabbing the helmet and taking a seat behind Mello. "So, where's the handlebars?"

Mello laughed, taking your arms and wrapping them around his waist. "I _am _the handlebars."

Mello revved the engine a final time before taking off. You clung to him for your life, feeling the rush of air that passed through your clothes. Mello weaved in and out of traffic on the freeway, with Matt driving most likely over the speed limit close behind.

Matt drove up next to you and Mello on the freeway in his car, the radio blasting.

"HEY MICKEY, YOU'RE SO FINE, YOU'RE SO FINE YOU BLOW MY MIND, HEY MICKEY!" he screamed along with the radio, and you laughed at his behavior.

"Matt, you're retarded!"

"-OH MICKEY, WHAT A PITY THAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! YOU TAKE ME BY THE HEART WHEN YOU TAKE ME BY THE HAND!" Matt sang, jumping up and down in his seat, sometimes even taking his hands off of the steering wheel.

"Matt, hands on steering wheel _now!_"

"-HEY WHAT YOU DO MICKEY-"

"Matt, some gay guys are honking you in the next car over-"

Matt ignored your comments and sang Mickey all the way until you reached the amusement park.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You twirled happily in circles as you, Mello and Matt traveled through Six Flags. Matt had already gone on every roller coaster and speedy ride in sight, and you were nearing the end of the day. Matt suddenly stopped his jaw dropping.

"What is it, Matt?" you asked.

"I have seen the light," he said slowly, pointing ahead of him. You turned and saw the massive structure that was King de Ka.

"_No. Friggin'. Way. _I am not getting on that thing!" you said, tugging on Matt's arm in protest.

"Fine, then you don't have to. I, on the other hand, will be enjoying myself while you and Mello…I don't know, go make out in the Haunted House or something."

Mello sneered at Matt, but he had already set off running for the coaster. You turned to Mello with a smile. "Since it's just the two of us, why don't we go on the Ferris wheel? I've always wanted too…."

"Hmm?" You pressed your cheek to his arm, and he grinned genuinely. "If that's what you want, then I'll have to endure it."

You and Mello walked with your arms linked to the Ferris wheel and boarded. You pressed your palms to the glass, taking in the bird's eye view.

"Pretty, isn't it?" you said quietly, almost to yourself. Mello sighed, wrapping his arm around your waist. "I've seen prettier. Like this thing on my arm right now," he said teasingly.

When your Ferris car finally reached the top of the wheel, Mello leaned in and kissed you.

From the distance, you swore you heard Matt screaming "FUUUUUUCKKKK YEAHHHH!" from the top of King de Ka.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When the three of you came home to your motel room, you were all exhausted, and you all immediately plopped down on the nearest seat.

Matt snored lightly from the couch, not bothering to change out of his "I rode King de Ka and lived" shirt, to which he wrote "but up-chucked" at the bottom in sharpie. The people riding behind Matt were definitely _not_ pleased.

You dragged yourself to your room and lay down on the bed with a satisfied sigh. A few minutes later, Mello walked in, quietly shutting the door and its lock. He lay in the bed, most of his body weight on you.

"Mello?" you questioned, but he silenced you with a kiss. You noticed he was moving so much more quickly, and before you know it his vest was off.

"M-Mello!" you said louder as he softly nibbled on your lower lip. "W-Wait! What are you- you're going to fast!"

Mello pulled back, a pained expression on his face. "M-Mello? What's wrong?"

Mello sighed, laying his head in just the right spot so that he listened to your heartbeat.

"H-Hear me out, Harmony…..tomorrow, Matt and I are going to make a major movement in this Kira business…. Tomorrow we plan on kidnapping his spokesperson, Kiyomi Takada."

You gasped. "Mello, why? Do you know how much protection she has around her? You'd never be able to pull that off easily!"

"T-That's exactly why…!" Mello stopped mid sentence, his breathing becoming quickened. "I just-….sorry….."

You pushed hair away from his face and looked deeply into those icy blue eyes. "M-Mello, you're coming back," you stated, but it sounded more like a question of uncertainty.

Mello sighed, pushing himself off of you. "Sorry…."

You yanked him back down suddenly, causing him to gasp. Your lips crashed into his as your fingers ghosted up and down his bare back, tracing his spine. He shook slightly.

"Mello….," you said quietly.

"Ok."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Matt sighed from his seat in the beanbag chair of his room as he pressed a number of combinations of buttons for a cheat. No game was unbeatable to him, he made sure of that.

However, he couldn't help but notice the constant _squeak _of bedsprings from the other room.

"Psh…damn girls. They always insist on jumping on their beds when they get excited or hear some damn boy band song….," he muttered to himself.

_Squeak…Squeak…Squeak… _The sound was almost like a beat.

"You know, _some _people can't concentrate on boss levels in games when people keep making noises like that!" Matt said loudly. The squeaking did not stop, however.

_Squeak…Squeak…Squeak…_

"Hmm…sounds familiar…," he said to himself. He began to pound his fist on the floor in harmony to the beat.

_Boom Boom Squeak. Boom Boom Squeak. Boom Boom Squeak…_

"We will, we will rock you!" Matt sang happily.

_Boom Boom Squeak. Boom Boom Squeak. _

"WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU!" Matt sang more loudly, now interpreting air guitar.

And so, poor, clueless Matt had no idea he was rocking out to the sounds of making love.


	28. Act TwentyEight: Action

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Me: Heyyyy, Mello ;D**

**Mello: I'll kill you.**

**Matt: Hey hey, Mello ;D**

**Mello: Shut up.**

**Matsuda: I LIKE FRENCH FRIES!**

**Mello: GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH *attacks Matsuda***

**Me: PFFT. Haha, poor Matsu.**

**Matt: Misseh doesn't own Death Note or its characters!  
**

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Twenty-Eight: Action

It was midnight when Mello came quietly out of your room. He made sure to tuck you in and kiss you goodnight before going to the main room on work duty again.

Matt sat on a chair, pressing at the buttons of his handheld. Mello took a seat opposite him in front of a laptop. Matt barely acknowledged his entrance.

"…Hey, Matt?"

"Hm?"

"How positive are you?"

"…..Mello, you're having second thoughts?"

Mello became silent once again. "….Matt, answer my question."

Matt sighed with boredom, pressing more furiously at the buttons of his game. "I'm not afraid of death, if that's what you're asking. I got over it."

Matt moved his eyes away from the screen. "I'll do what you tell me, Mello."

Mello sighed, disappointed. "That wasn't the answer I was looking for….And no; I can't have doubts this far into it. I have to do this….I'm the only one who can….I have no choice."

Matt laughed, catching Mello of guard. "What is it?!"

"You really are stupid. There is _always _a choice, Mello, whether people want to see it or not."

Mello scoffed, opening up a chocolate bar. "We're _doing _this, Matt," he said sternly.

"Whatever, fine by me."

"_Harmony, I-I l-love you!" I said quickly, squeezing my eyes shut._

_I felt her move from under the touch of my fingertips, and I opened my eyes cautiously. She wrapped her arms around my middle and nuzzled her face into his shirt. I couldn't help but blush at how cute it was._

"_Aww, Mello, you're so sweet when you want to be. Now see? That wasn't so hard!"_

_Moment ruined._

_I sat there dumbfounded as my arms fell limply to my sides. "You figured it out but you still didn't say anything about it?!" I yelled._

"_Oh shut up," she said, her voice muffled. "Be happy."_

"_Tch…I hate you."_

"_I love you too, Mello."_

Mello's heart swelled at the memory, and then fell as he remembered all this was soon to be lost. He picked up the chocolate bar to take a bite, but put it back down.

It was the first time Mello ever rejected chocolate.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You woke up the next morning earlier than normal to be sure you saw Mello and Matt before they left. You weren't about to be abandoned again.

"Mello! Matt!" you called. "I made breakfast!"

You turned towards the setup you slaved over all morning. A huge assortment of food was laid out beautifully for the boys, along with some floral as decoration.

The boys eventually came into the main room, but they were all dressed and ready to leave. You frowned in disappointment. "Oh…so you won't be staying for breakfast?"

Mello seemed to constantly wear a pain expression nowadays, and you became more and more worried about this entire kidnapping stunt. "Mello, Matt, do you really have to….?"

Mello motioned for you to sit on the couch, and you silently obeyed. He bent down and put his hands firmly on both your shoulders.

"H-Harmony…."

"Harmony, when I leave today, I won't be coming back."

You died on the inside the moment he said it.

"Wha-_What?"_

"Matt…he should make it. He should be able to take care of you afterwards…but I…." Mello stumbled over his words as though speaking was painful. In truth, it was, because every word of him not coming back was like a knife stabbing straight at your heart.

Tears spilled from your eyes uncontrollably, and Mello's face became contorted with sadness. He leaned in and kissed you so passionately, almost angrily. It was as though his goal was to devour all of your sadness, to make the tears go away.

He pulled away, and then pressed his thumbs lightly to your eyelids to brush away remaining tears. "S-Sorry….I love you."

You let out a long wail and grasped tightly to his jacket, not willing to let go. Mello placed his palm over your mouth for silence.

"Harmony, please," he pleaded, his voice shaky. "Promise me you won't cry. Promise…f-for me…."

He pulled away slowly and you felt him slip right through your grasp. Tears continued to fall despite any amount of comfort.

That would be the last time you would ever hold him. The last time you would ever kiss him. The last time you would ever hear that voice of his again.

Matt moved towards you now, his tearing eyes hidden behind those tinted goggles. He leaned down and embraced you tightly. You began sobbing so hard you started to hiccup from lack of air. You were suffocating in your own sadness.

When Matt finally released you from the hug, he had slipped something into your palm. You looked down to see it was his precious gameboy he always had with him.

"Have it for safe keeping until I get home, okay?" he said. His question was unsure, and he acted as though he was giving it away instead of lending it.

Mello and Matt left out the door, and you listened until you heard them drive away; Mello on his motorcycle, Matt in his car.


	29. Act TwentyNine: Lost

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**Mello: The reader is probably on the verge of tears right now. And you make me look like an ass!**

**Me: No I don't! Don't blame me, blame the anime! *pouts***

**Matt: Now that this is getting depressing, I think I'll just go now...maybe get some chips or whatever and play some Pokemon...**

**Light: Did somebody say potato chips? **

**Me, Mello, and Matt: GRRRRR.**

**Light: Wha-What?**

**Me, Mello, Matt: THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!**

**Light: Psh... Nobody undestands.**

**Mello: Oh boohoo!**

**Light: Pfft...Misseh doesn't own Death Note or its characters...  
**

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Act Twenty-Nine: Lost

Kiyomi Takada smiled at her adoring fans and waved at photographers as she exited her limousine. It was all a perfect day for her as Kira's spokesperson.

Mail Jeevas sighed as he took another drag out of his cigarette. It was just one of many he had taken today, for it wasn't exactly great in his life. He had just said goodbye to one of his best gal friends, unsure if he would be back or not. He longed to get things over with so he could be home to his games again.

Mihael Keehl drove slowly on his motorcycle, circling the building that his target, Takada, had just arrived at. He felt empty on the inside, and he couldn't give a shit about anything anymore. He knew today was the day he would die; but he had a plan to follow through with. Time was of the essence.

It had all come down to this moment.

Matt pressed on the gas, and many of Takada's bodyguards turned to the sound of tires screeching against pavement. Rolling down the window, Matt shot his gun, releasing a smoke bomb that lay a protective veil of black over the scene. Turning furiously, he escaped the way he came and made a run for it.

One of Takada's female bodyguards, Halle Lidner, took her by the shoulders and lead her into the building. The sound of another set of screeching tires stopped her.

"_Don't _do it," Mello commanded. "Take a look around. It's not safe for her here. Not even inside."

Halle glared at Mello with suspicion. "Mello…."

"It's best if you get her away from here right now. Miss Takada, get on," he said, motioning her to the back seat of his bike.

Halle and Miss Takada stood motionless for a moment, stalling. "_Now!" _Mello said impatiently.

"I-It's okay, you'll be safe with him. Please, you have to go," said Halle to Takada.

"R-Right," she said worriedly, and took a seat behind Mello.

Mello revved the engine of the bike and rode off with Miss Takada in tow. Mello looked at his rearview mirrors to see some of Takada's bodyguards on his tail in their cars. Making a sudden swerve to the right, he escaped into the streets, weaving through every obstacle.

From his pocket, Mello pulled out a pair of handcuffs and clicked them together on Takada's wrist. "Wha-What are you doing?!" she cried in fear, but Mello only remained silent, determined to stick to the plan.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Matt could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins as he swerved madly through the streets. His tires would scream every time he made a sharp turn in an attempt to escape the bodyguards that followed in pursuit of him. He kept his cigarette poised in his mouth, the nicotine only adding to the rush.

"Hmm?"

Matt looked ahead to see a blockade of cars in his way, waiting for him. Pressing down hard on the brakes, his car made a full 180 degree turn before it came to a halt in the middle of the circle of cars.

Matt crossed his arms lazily over the steering wheel. _So those cars got ahead of me, huh? How many damn bodyguards does one woman need, anyway?_

Dozens of men in suits stepped out from their vehicles; guns pointed and ready to shoot. Matt reached for the handle of the door and stepped out with his hands in the air.

"Hey, c'mon, gimme a break! Since when were the Japanese allowed to carry around such big guns?" he said sarcastically.

"You got me, I'm part of this whole kidnapping incident. That means you'll have a lot of questions to ask. You won't shoot at-"

The men in suits pulled the triggers of their guns, the sound of dozens of shots ringing through the air. Matt stumbled backwards as he was caught in a hail of bullets, hitting him all over the chest and even on the hood of his car.

When the shooting stopped, Matt stood there for a moment, blood staining his vest where there were bullet holes, and a stream of blood trickled down from his head onto his face. Matt then fell backwards, landing with a loud _thud _against his car.

Matt's body lay limply against the car as his cigarette fell from his now cold lips, landing on his shirt with a hiss and finally went out.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mello drove through a dark alleyway, with Kira's spokesperson glaring from behind him. He drove more slowly into the back of a truck at the end of the alley until he came to a stop. He closed the doors tightly and faced Takada, who stood shaking with fear against the far wall.

Moving his hands upward, he grabbed his helmet and took it off, his hair roughed up and a scowl on his face. Both he and Takada stared at each other; one in fear, the other with intimidation.

"Take off everything you're wearing and put it in that box," Mello growled, motioning towards the said box. Takada gasped and stared at the box on the floor, then back to Mello.

"Hurry up," he commanded, loading his gun with a _click. _"You can use this blanket."

Miss Takada wrapped her arms around her chest, shaking. _Tch, don't flatter yourself, whore,_ Mello thought. She turned towards the wall and began to undress.

When she was finally down to nothing but her underwear and bra, she stuttered.

"B-Before I take off the rest, c-can I please have the blanket so I can wrap it around me?"

"Whatever you want," he hissed, tossing the blanket to her. He gripped his gun tightly, still pointing it at the woman.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When she had finished, Mello got into the front of the truck and drove all the way to a delivery site. There, while disguised as a delivery person, he dropped off the box with all her clothes.

Getting back into the truck and removing his disguise, Mello glared at the road.

_This is the only thing that can be done…if I don't do it-_

Mello's thoughts were cut off by the latest news report from the small T.V. on the dashboard.

"…as for the suspect who was gunned down earlier, we're still not able to identify him. The police are tracking the remaining suspects…"

_Matt…I never thought you'd be killed. I'm sorry…_

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
_

Mello drove the truck into the small archway of a church. He gripped the wheel tightly, heaving a sigh.

_Psh…I may wear a cross, but I've never been one of faith. Hell, if there is a God, he sure seems to have forgotten me._

Mello took another deep breathe, but felt a sudden sharp pain in his chest. He gasped for air, the pain shooting up his arm. His head landed harshly against the steering wheel, his eyes wide with a mixture of fear and agony. Slowly, everything went dark, life flashing before him. A final memory of your face and Matt's passed before his eyes…

On January 26, 2010, Mihael Keehl died of a heart attack.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was hours before you stopped crying. Your eyes were red and irritated, and you had lost your voice from screaming into your pillow. Searching desperately for a distraction, you flicked on the television to the news.

Oh how you regretted this.

"…as for the suspect who was gunned down earlier, we're still not able to identify him. The police are tracking the remaining suspects…"

"_Matt…he should make it. He should be able to take care of you afterwards…but I…"_

Hot, angry tears trailed down your cheeks. "L-_Liar!" _you screamed, clutching the gameboy in your hands.

It seemed as though it was only moments later before bad news struck again.

"…it is with great sorrow that I must announce the passing of one of our very own colleagues. The police have identified one of the bodies found at the scene as NHN's Miss Kiyomi Takada. A two ton truck and a motorcycle were also found in the ruins of the burned out church. Investigators suspect gasoline was used to start the fire…"

You began to tremble all over. _Mello…Matt…I have no one…_

You were completely alone, lost in a swirl of pain and anger. It didn't matter how much you cried; no amount of tears would bring them back.


	30. Act Thirty: Childhood Innocence

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**Me, Mello, Matt: Ok, for old time's sake, and in honor of the final chapter, we are all going to say the disclaimer as one. Misseh doesn't own Death Note or its characters!**

**Me: Thanks, ILU guys ^^ I just want to say thanks to my readers and reviewers, because without you, this story would've gone to waste. I hope you enjoyed the story!  
**

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Act Thirty: Childhood Innocence

You had a theory.

In a way, your childhood was like a rosebud going through seasons.

When your parents died, it was like winter, where your rosebud was withering and struggled to stand a fighting chance. You were dumped in Wammy's, where you stuck out like a sore thumb and always felt out of place.

When Matt came along, it was like the depressive "snows" of the winter melted away, and you finally had a support system. Matt brought back the spring, and your rose could bloom again.

Then there was Mello.

Mello, in a way, was your summer. He started off as this rash and foulmouthed being; he was a steaming sun in an unforgiving summer. But then, you began to fall in love with him, and he became your life support; the sun that made all plants grow. Without Mello, your rose would not survive.

The question that may stand is: where does innocence come into play?

This is contradictive. In fact, you knew your childhood- hell, your _life _was anything _but _innocent…by general standards.

But you grew up in a different world. You were an orphaned child growing in an orphanage for gifted children, in the reign of the powerful murderer, Kira.

It took you some time to figure it out, but you did: Mello _was _your childhood innocence.

Mello taught you what love was. And love is the most innocent of values existent.

Therefore, Mello taught you innocence.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You sighed deeply, stuffing more and more of your things into your bag. You spent most of the day packing; today you decided to move out of the motel room and into a new apartment.

While searching through the room, you found something stuffed between the cushions of the couch. Pulling it out, you saw it to be a plastic bag with small contents inside.

"Hmm? What's this?" you mumbled to yourself. You turned the bag upside down to spill its contents onto the floor, and became silent.

A small, red gameboy, disgarded in the couch since that fateful day, and a rosary lay on the floor. You could already feel the tears coming, and watched as one dripped to the floor.

"H-Hey…how's it going, guys?" you said quietly, picking up the objects. You hoped that somehow your words would have some spiritual connection to your beloved "family". You held the rosary gently, twirling it in your fingers.

_You smiled, and leaned towards the glass, breathing on it so it created an area of fog. Using your finger, you began to write in the foggy area:_

_**Do you really love me? Marshmellow?**_

_You smiled at him awkwardly, circling the word 'Marshmellow' with a heart._

_Mello's face became flushed, but he managed to grin right back. Leaning towards the glass, he breathed on it so that he created his own fog area next to yours._

_Using his finger, he drew an arrow from 'Marshmellow' in the heart to his fog area and wrote:_

_**& Harmony.**_

_It took you a moment before you were able to comprehend what he meant._ _**Mello…and Harmony.**_

_You grinned like an idiot when you finally got it, but he laughed at you. "A little late, don't you think?"_

"_Shut up."_

"_Never."_

"_So you do love me?"_

"_Forever."_

"F-Forever…," you whispered, recalling the memory so vividly. "Me too, Mello…"

Another tear rolled down your cheek.

"_Harmony, please," he pleaded, his voice shaky. "Promise me you won't cry. Promise…f-for me…"_

You wiped furiously at your eyes, banishing any tears from forming. "Forever, Mello…and I swear I won't cry…."

You would keep these two promises for as long as you lived.


End file.
